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THE 



GENEEAL ELECTION LAWS 

OE KANSAS. 



SYSTEMATIZED FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF ELECT- 
ORS AND ELECTION OFFICERS. 



X 



WM. R. ARTHUR, A.B., LL. B., 
Dean of Washburn College School of Law. 



LAW t'Q??ARY 

OF C OHQP^S ^ 
ANO 



Cr-\ne & Company, Publishers, 
ToPEKA, Kansas. 

i9n. 



The Crane Classics 



These publications are particularly suitable for supplementary work in reading classes, 
also for studies in literature. The plain, easy-reading type is very popular with teachers and 
pupils. In paper covers, 15 cents. In cloth binding, 25 centSi 
Following ia the list: 

1. Selections from Ironquill Eugene F. Ware 

2. James Henry Lane William Elsey Connelley 

3. Wyandot Folk-Lore. William Elsey Connelley 

4. Birds of Kansas Benjamin E. Eyer 

5. Kansas in Literature. Part I William H. Carruth 

6. Kansas in Literature. Part II William H. Carruth 

7. The Geological Story of Kansas L. C. Wooster 

8. Kansas Territorial Governors William Elsey Connelley 

9. Plants and Flowers of Kansas Bernard B Smyth 

10. John Brown. Part I William Elsey Connelley 

11. John Brown. Part II .William Elsey Connelley 

12. Richard Realf's Free-State Poems R. J Hinton 

13. Julius Cffisar William Shakespeare 

14. Macbeth William Shakespeare 

15. Charles Robinson, the First Free-State Governor of Kansas. ... .Frank W. B!ackmar 

16. Babby Redstart, and Other Bird Stories L. S. Keyser 

17. Study of History, Sociology and Economics Frank W. Blackmar 

18. Silas Marner. Part I. . . , George Eliot 

19. Silas Marner. Part II George Eliot 

20. Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare 

21. Evangeline Henry W. Longfellow 

22. Macaulajr's Essay on Milton Edited by P. H. Pearson 

23. The Vision of Sir Launial James Russell Lowell 

24. Snow-bound ., John Greenleaf Whittier 

25. Hiawatha. Part I Henry W. Longfellow 

26. Hiawatha. Part II Henry W. Longfellow 

27. The Miraculous Pitcher Nathaniel Hawthorne 

28. The Courtship of Miles Standish Henry W. Longfellow 

29. King Lear 1 William Shakespeare 

30. The Great Stone Face. — Snow Image. — A BeU's Biography. .. .Nathaniel Hawthorne 

31. Ivanhoe. Part I Sir Walter Scott 

32. Ivanhoe. Part II Sir Walter Scott 

33. Ivanhoe. Part III Sir Walter Scott 

34. Ivanhoe. Part IV Sir Walter Scott 

35. Tales of a Wayside Inn Part I Henry W. Longfellow 

36. Tales of a Wayside Inn. Part II Henry W. Longfellow 

37. Tales of a Wayside Inn. Part III Henry W. Longfellow 

38. Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Other Essays Washington Irving 

39. A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens 

40. Hamlet William Shakespeare 

41. Othello William Shakespeare 

42. The Tempest William Shakespeare 



Crane CS. Company, Publishers 

TOPEKA, KANSAS 



COi 
LAW DORARy 
OF CONGRESS 
AND 
SUPReME CCURT, ' 
THE 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS 

OF KANSAS. ., f ..' 



SYSTEMATIZED FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF ELECT- 
ORS AND ELECTION OFFICERS. 



• WM. R. ARTHUR, A.B., LL.B., 

Dean of Washburn College School of Law. 



Crane & Company, Publishers, 

TopEKA, Kansas. 

1911. 



^^Jt^^ 



Copyrighted by 

Crane & Company, Topeka, Kansas. 

1911. 



©CI.A300481 



tr- 



NOTE. 



This edition of the Election Laws of Kansas includes all the 
pertinent laws contained in the General Statutes of 1909, and also 
the amendments and new acts passed by the Legislature of 1911. 

The former edition has been completely revised, and a number 
of new chapters have been added, in an effort to increase the use- 
fulness and completeness of this manual. The more important 
new chapters include the law in relation to City Elections, Town- 
ship Elections, Commissioner of Elections, Female Suffrage, and 
School Elections. 

^here possible, all references are to the General Statutes of 
1909. 

The index will be a great aid to anyone in search of a particular 

section. 

Wm. R. Arthur. 

Topeka, Kansas, October, 1911. 



COXTEJs'TS, 



Chapter I. 

Constitutional Pro\'isions : Section. 

1. U. S. Constitution 1 

2. Kansas Constitution 2-8 

Ch-\pter II. 

Offices to be Filled ^ 9-29 

Chapter III. 

General Provisions 30-34 

Chapter IV. 

Australian Ballot Law 35-68 

Chapter V. 

Primarj' Elections 69-91 

Chapter VI. 

Conduct of Elections 92-106 

Chapter VII. 

Registration of Voters 107-123 

Chapter VIII. 

Crimes Affecting Public Trusts 124-139 

Chapter IX. 

Commissioner of Elections 140-154 

Chapter X. 

Cities of First Class : 

1. Government by Mayor and Council 155-163 

2. Government by Board of Commissioners 164-171 

Chapter XL 

Cities of Secbnd Class : 

1. Government by ^Mayor and Council 172-179 

2. Government by Board of Commissioners 180-188 

Chapter XII. 

Cities of Third Class 189-191 

Chapter XIII. 

Tow-nship Elections 192-208 

Chapter XIV. 

School Elections 209-221 

Chapter XV. 

County-Seat Elections 222-231 

Chapter XVI. 

Canvass of the Votes 232-248 



b ■ CONTEXTS. 

Chapter X^II. Section, 

Contested Elections 249-281 

Chapter XS'lU. 

Miscellaneous 282-303 

Chapter XIX. 

Corrupt Practices 304-309 

Chapter XX. 

Voters' Choice for United States Senator Expressed at Priman- and 

General Elections 310-311 

Chapter XXI. 

Voters in Militan* Service and Soldiers' Home 312-335 

Chapter XXII. 

Voting when Absent from Voting Precincts 336-342 

Chapter XXIII. 

Voting iMachines 343-348 

Chapter XXIA'. 

Female Suffrage 349-352 

Resolution Relating to Equal Suffrage. 



GEXERAL ELECTIOX LAWS, 



CH^lPTER I. 
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. 

I.— U. S. Constitution. 

§ 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on 
accomit of race, color, or previous condition of serA^tude. (Const, 
of r. S., Alt. XV. § 1. G. S. 1909. § 41.) 

II.— Kansas Constitution. 

§ 2. QuoMfications of Elector. Eveiy white* male person, of 
twenty-one years and upward, belonging to either of the follow- 
ing classes — who shall have resided in Kansas six months next 
preceding any election,, and in the to^-nship or ward in which he 
offers to vote, at least thirty days next preceding such election — 
shah be deemed a quahfied elector : 

First. Citizens of the United States. 

Second. Persons of foreign birth who shaU have declared their 
intention to become citizens, conformably to the laws of the 
United States on the subject of naturahzation. (Const., art. o, 
§ 1 ; G. S. 1909, § 170.) 

§ 3. Who Not Qualified. Xo person under guardianship, 
non compos mentis, or insane ; no person convicted of felony, 
imless restored to ci\'il rights : no person who has been dishon- 
orably discharged from the ser^dce of the United States, imless 
reinstated ; no person guilty of defrauding the government of the 
United States, or any of the states thereof ; no person guilty of 
gi\'ing or recei^-ing a bribe, or offering to give or receive a bribe ; 
and no person who has ever voluntarily borne arms against the 
government of the United States, or in any manner voluntarily 
aided or abetted in the attempted overthrow of said government, 

♦ The word "white" was repealed by the fifteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. 

(7) 



8 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

except all persons who have been honorably discharged from the 
military service of the United States since the first day of April, 
1861, provided that they have served one year or more therein, 
shall be qualified to vote or hold office in this state until such 
disabihty shall be removed by a law passed by a vote of two- 
thirds of all the members of both branches of the legislature. 
(Const., art. 5, § 2 ; G. S. 1909, § 171.) 

§ 4. Citizens in the Military Service, and Absent. For the pur- 
pose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have gained or 
lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while em- 
ployed in the service of the United States, nor while engaged in 
the na\dgation of the waters of this state, or of the United States, 
or of the high seas, nor while a student of any seminar}^ of learn- 
ing, nor while kept at any almshouse or other asylum at public 
expense, nor while confined in any public prison ; and the legis- 
lature may make provision for taking the votes of electors who 
may be absent from their townships or wards, in the volunteer 
mihtary service of the United States, or the militia ser\dce of this 
state ; but nothing herein contained shall be deemed to allow any 
soldier, seaman or marine in the regular army or navy of the 
United States the right to vote. (Const., art. 5, § 3 ; G. S. 
1909, § 172.) 

§ 5. Proof of Right. The legislature shall pass such laws as 
may be necessary for ascertaining by proper proofs, the citizens 
who shall be entitled to the right of suffrage hereby established. 
(Const., art. 5, § 4; G. S. 1909, § 173.) 

§ 6. Electors Privileged. Electors, during their attendance at 
elections, and in going to and returning therefrom, shall be 
privileged from arrest in all cases except treason, felonv, or breach 
of the peace. (Const., art. 5, § 7 ; G. S. 1909, § 176.) 

§ 7. Duelists. Every person who shall give or accept a chal- 
lenge to fight a duel, or who shall knowingly carry to another 
person such challenge, or shall go out of the state to fight a duel, 
shall be inehgible to any office of trust or profit. (Const., art. 
5, §5; G. S. 1909, §174.) 

§ 8. Bribery. Every person who shall have given or offered 
a bribe to procure his election shall be disqualified from holding 
office during the term for which he may have been elected. 
(Const., art. 5, § 6 ; G. S. 1909, § 175.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. \) 

CHAPTER II. 

OFFICES TO BE FILLED.* 

§ 9. General Election. On the Tuesday succeeding the first 
Monday in November, A. D. 1868, and on the Tuesday succeed- 
ing the first Monday in November in every second year there- 
after, there shall be held a general election for the election of 
representative in congress, governor, lieutenant-governor, secre- 
tary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney-general, 
superintendent of public instruction, justice of the supreme court, 
senators ; and in each county, probate judge, clerk of the district 
court, county superintendent of public instruction, and county 
attorney. (G. S. 1909, § 3228.) 

§ 10. Justices of the Supreme Court. At the general election 
in 1902 there shall be elected five justices, one of whom shall hold 
his office for two years, one for four years, and three for six 3^ears. 
At the general election in 1904 and ever}^ six years thereafter two 
justices shall be elected. At the general election in 1906 and 
every six years thereafter two justices shall be elected. At the 
general election in 1908 and every six years thereafter three 
justices shall be elected. (Constitutional amendment adopted 
at general election of 1900 ; G. S. 1909, § 149.) 

§ 11. Superintendent of Insurance. At the general election to 
be held in the State of Kansas in November, in the year 1900, and 
every two years thereafter, there shall be elected a superintend- 
ent of insurance for the State of Kansas. (G. S. 1909, § 8933.) 

§ 12. State Printer. All public printing shall be done by the 
state printer, who shall be elected by the people at the election 
held for state officers in November, 1906, and every two years 
thereafter, at the elections held for state officers, and shall hold 
his office for two years and until his successor shall be elected and 
quahfied. (Constitution, § 4, article 15, as amended in 1904. 
See G. S. 1909, § 230.) 

§ 13. Lieutenant-Governor. The lieutenant-governor must be 
chosen at the same election at which the governor is chosen, and 
for the same term. In virtue of his office, he shall be president 

* For election of District Judgr^s, see G. S. 1909. §§3231, 3232. 



10 CtEXER.\L elzctiox l.\ws. 

of the senate. If a vacancy occurs in the office of the president 
of the senate, the president ; -,,--.- --- ^-^e senate shall be 
deemed to be the president oi :i:e seiiu:e oi the tinexpired term. 
G. S. 1909. §SS49.; 

§ 14. Railroad Commissioners. A state board of raili'oad com- 
missioners :- ■:er-by created, to consist of three competent persons. 
and said ':::::.:;1 shall be elected ... as hereinafter pro- 
vided. The said board of railroad commissioners shah be elected 
at each general biennial election, in the same manner as other 
state officers are elected. G. S. 1909. § 7167." 

§ 15. Prt-s:';:: .:.; ' £.":;:; '-s. On the Tuesday succeeding the 
ffi'st IVIonday in November. ISoS. and on the Tuesday succeeding 
the ffi'st ]\I^::d2y in Xovember in ever^' fotu'th yeai' thereafter, 
there shall Ve held a general election for the election of as many 
electors of president and \*ice-president of the United States as 
this state may be entitled to. G. S. 1909. § 323-i.' 

§ 16. Mernotrs of Legislature. At the general election held in 
eighteen himdred and seventy-six. and thereafter, members of the 
house of representatives shall be elected for two yeai's. and mem- 
bers of the senate shall be elected for fotu* years. 'Constitution. 
art. 2, § 29 : G. S. 1909. § 147. 

§ 17. County and T ov:nship fixers and County Cornrnissioners — 
Generally. General elections and township elections shall be held 
bienniaUy on the Tuesday succeeding the ffi^st ^Monday in Xo- 
vember in the years bearing even nimibers. All cotmty and 
township offic-ers shall hold theu' offices for :-.. '-nri of two years 
and imtil their successors are ciualified : P-;: .:;•;;■. One cotmty 
commirsioner shaU be elected from each of three districts, num- 
bered 1. 2. and 3. by the voters of the district, and the legislattu-e 
shall fix the time of election and the term of office of such com- 
missioners : such election to be at a general election, and no term 
of office to exceed six years. All officers whose successors wotild. 
tmder the law as it existed at the time of their election, be elected 
in an odd-nimibered year, shall hold office for an additional year 
and tmtil their successors are quahned. Xo person shall hold the 
office of sheriff or cotmty treastirer for more than two consecutive 
terms, f Constitution, art. 4. § 2. amendment adopted at 
general election of 1902 : G. S. 1909. 5 169. i 



GEXEILIL ELECTIOX LITVS. 11 

§ 18. County Officers. On the Tuesday succeeding the first 
^Monday in Xovember, A. D. 1902. and on the Tuesday succeed- 
ing the first ^londay in Xovember in every second year there- 
after, there sball be held a general election for the election in each 
county of every county officer except coimty connnissioners and 
for the election in Wyandotte county of a clerk of the court of 
common pleas, as follows : Probate judge, clerk of the district 
court, county superintendent of pubhc instruction, county at- 
torney,, sherift', coroner, cotuity clerk, county treasurer, register of 
deeds, county surveyor, and clerk of the court of common pleas 
of Wyandotte cotmty. (G. S. 1909, § 3229.^ 

§ 19. Coimty Commissioners. At the general election in Xo- 
vember, 1904, there shall be elected in each county one com- 
missioner in the district which elected a commissioner at the 
general election in Xovember, 1900, and one commissioner in the 
district which elected a commissioner at the general election in 
Xovember, 1901 : at the general election in Xovember, 1906, 
there shall be elected in each county one commissioner in the 
district which elected a conmaissioner at the Xovember election 
in 1902 : Provided, That where the numbers or boimdaries of any 
districts have been changed since the election of 1900, 1901, or 
1902, the successors to such districts shall be the ones covered by 
the foregoing provisions. All county commissioners shall hold 
for a term of foiu* years from the second ^londay of January next 
after their election, and until their successors are qualified ; their 
elected successors to be chosen at the general election in Xo- 
vember preceding the expiration of their terms, (G. S. 1909, 
§ 2065.) . 

§ 20. Officers of City Limits. That from and after the passage 
of this act all judges, clerks and marshals of city courts in cities 
of the first class in Kansas shall be elected at the regular elec- 
tions for state and county officers in their respective counties, 
such elections to be held and nominations to such offices made in 
accordance with the laws governing elections for county officers, 
the electors for said offices to remain as now provided by statute, 
and that the present incumbents shall hold their respective 
offices until the officers elected at the next regular election for 
state and county officers shall have been elected and qualified, 
and until their successors are elected and qualified. CL. 1911, 
ch. 96, § 1.) 



12 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

§ 21. County Clerk. A county clerk shall be elected in each 
count}^ of tills state, for the term of two years ; and he shall, 
before he enters upon the duties of his office, execute and file 
with the treasurer of the county a bond, with two or more suf- 
ficient sureties, in the penal sum of not less than two thousand 
dollars, to be fixed and approved by the treasurer, with conditions 
in substance as follows, to wit: ''Whereas, The above bounden 

was elected to the office of county clerk of the county of 

on the da}^ of ; now, therefore, if the said shall 

faithfull}^ perform all the duties of his office, and shall pay over 
all moneys that may come into his hands as such clerk, as re- 
quired by law, and shall deliver to his successor in office all the 
books, records, papers and other things belonging to said office, 
then the above obligation to be null and void ; otherwise to re- 
main in full force." (G. S. 1909, § 2116.) 

§ 22. County Treasurer. A county treasurer shall be elected 
in each county for the term of two years, whose term of office 
shall commence the second Tuesday of October after his election, 
and the county commissioners shall fill the vacancy occurring 
between the first Tuesday of July, A. D. eighteen hundred and 
seventy-six, and the second Tuesday of October the same year ; 
and such treasurer shall, before he enters upon the discharge of 
his duties, execute to the state of Kansas a bond, with three or 
more sufficient sureties, to be approved by the board of county 
commissioners, and in such penal sum as they shall direct, which 
bond, with the approbation of the board indorsed thereon by 
the clerk, shall be filed in the office of the county clerk ; and in 
case the board of commissioners shall not be in session in time for 
any county treasurer to present his bond for their approval as 
above specified, or he shall be unable, from any cause, to present 
his bond at any regular meeting of the board after due notice of 
his election, then it shall be lawful for such treasurer to present 
his bond to the chairman or clerk of the said board for approval, 
and the approval indorsed thereon shall have the same effect as if 
done b}^ the board of commissioners ; and in such cases, where the 
board shall not have fixed the penal sum of such bond, it shall not 
be less than twice the amount of all moneys directed by the board 
to be levied in the county, and to be paid to the treasurer during 
the previous year. (G. S. 1909, § 2138.) 

§ 23. Probate Judge. There shall be elected in each county a 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 13 

probate judge, who shall hold his office two years, and who shall, 
before he enters upon the duties of his office, execute to the state 
of Kansas a bond, in a sum of not less than two thousand dollars 
nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars, with two or more 
sufficient sureties, to be fixed and approved by the county com- 
missioners, and filed in office of county clerk, conditioned for the 
faithful performance of the duties required of him by law, and for 
the faithful application and payment of all moneys and effects 
that may come into his hands in the execution of the duties of 
his office. (G. S. 1909, § 2174.) 

§ 24. Register of Deeds. A register of deeds shall be elected in 
each county for the term of two years, and who shall, before he 
enters upon the duties of his office, execute to the state of Kansas 
and file with the county clerk of his county a bond in the penal 
sum of two thousand dollars, with two or more sufficient secur- 
ities, to be approved by said clerk, with a condition that he will 
faithfully, correctly and impartially perform all the duties of his 
said office, and shall deliver to his successor in office all books, 
records, maps, deeds, mortgages, papers and things belonging to 
his office, then the said obligation shall be void ; otherwise, to be 
and remain in full force and effect. (G. S. 1909, § 2177.) 

§ 25. Sheriff. A sheriff shall be elected in each organized 
county, for two years, and who shall, before he enters upon the 
duties of his office, execute to the state of Kansas a bond, with at 
least two or more sufficient sureties, in such penal sum, not less 
than two thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dol- 
lars, as the board of county commissioners shall specify and ap- 
prove ; said bond, when thus approved, to be ffied in the office of 
the county clerk. (G. S. 1909, § 2189.) 

§ 26. County Attorney. A county attorney shall be elected in 
each county organized for judicial purposes, who shall hold his 
office for a term of two years, who shall, before he enters upon the 
duties of his office, execute a bond to the state of Kansas in a sum 
of not less than two thousand dollars, to be fixed by the board of 
county commissioners, with two or more sufficient securities, to 
be approved by the chairman of said board, which bond shall be 
conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties as such 
officer, and that he will pay over to the county treasurer, in the 
manner prescribed by law, all moneys which shall come into his 
hands by virtue of his office ; and he shall deposit such bond in 



14 GEXER_\L ELECnOX LAAVS. 

the office of the coimty clerk : Providtd, Xo person shall be ehgible 
for the nommation or election to the office of county attorney of 
any coimty unless such person shall have been regularly admitted 
to practice law within the state of Kansas, and is at the time of 
his nomination and election a regular ciualified practicing attorney 
under said laws. G. S. 1909. §'2225. 

§ 27. Ckrk of Districi Court. A clerk of the district court shall 
be elected in each cotmty organized for juchcial pm-poses. who shall 
hold his office for the teiTU of two years, who shall, before entering 
upon the performance of the duties of his said office, execute a 
bond to the state of Kansas with two or more sureties,, to be ap- 
proved by the county commissioners, in the penal sum of not less 
than two nor more than sixty thousand doUars. conditioned that 
he will truly and faithfully pay over to the proper person or per- 
sons all moneys which may be by him received in his official 
capacity, and faithfully ddschai'ge the duties of his said office ; 
which said bond shall be filed with the coimtv clerk. G. S. 
1909. §2245. 

§ 28. Courdy Surveyor. There shaU be elected a county sm'- 
veyor in each organized coimty ui this state, who shall hold his 
office for the teiTu of two years and until his successor is elected 
and Ciualified, and who shall, before he enters upon the duties of 
his office, take and subscribe an oath or affiiTnation that he will 
faithfully, impartially, and to the best of his skill and abhity, 
discharge the duties of county sur^'eyor : and he shall also exe- 
cute to the state of Kansas a bond in the penal sum of two thou- 
sand doUar^s. with at least two securities, as the county clerk may 
deem suffi.cient. conditioned for the true and faithful perfoiinance 
of the several duties of county siuweyor. as provided for by law : 
which bond said clerk shaU file in his office. G. S. 1909. § 2251. ' 

§ 29. Coroner. A coroner shall be elected in each county for 
the term of two years, who shah, before he enters upon the duties 
of his office, give bond to the state of Kansas in such penal sum. 
not less than five himched and not more than fi^^e thousand dol- 
lars, with sufficient sureties, not less than two. as the coimty clerk 
shaU du'ect and approve, the condition of which bond shah be in 
substance the same as that given by the sherifi' : such bond to be 
filed with the county clerk of the proper county. G. S. 1909, 



2206. 



GEXER-IL ELECTIOX L.\WS. 15 



CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

§ 30. Elediryihs. All elections hereafter to be held for state, 
district and county officers shall be held and conducted in the 
manner prescribed in this act. G. S. 1909. § 3117. 

§ 31. Election Didricts. Each township in the several counties 
shall compose one elecrion district, unless such township is now 
or shaU hereafter be divided by law into more districts than 
one. the election to be held at such place in such township or 
district as the trustee and any justice of the peace in each town- 
ship shall direct : and each ward of any city that is or may be 
divided into wards shall compose one election district, the elec- 
tions therein to be held at such places as the city coimcil may 
direct : and in aU elections held under this act, any thi^ee of the 
council men of the ward shall sen'e as judges, and perform the 
duties required of the township trustees and justices of the peace 
La Hke cases. G. S. 1909. § 311S..' 

§ 32. Ballot-Box. The tiiistee of each township shall cause to 
be provided, at the expense of the township, a baUot-box for each 
election district within his township which may be destitute of 
the same, and preser^'e it for the use of elections, and carry said 
baUot-box with a copy of the laws containing this act. to the 
place or places of holdiog elections in his township, as often as it 
may be necessarv to meet and vote for officers tinder this act. 
(CrS. 1909. §3119. 

§ 33. Xotice to he giveri by Sheriff. It shall be the duty of the 
sheriff, and he is hereby recitiired. fifteen days at least before the 
holding of any general election, or ten days before the holding of 
any special election, to give pubhc notice by proclamation through 
out his county of the time of holding such election, and the officers 
at that time to be chosen, one copy of which shall be posted up at 
each of the places where the elections are appointed to be held, 
and inserted in some newspaper pubhshed in the county, if any 
be pubhshed therein. (G. S. 1909, § 3120. ) 

§ 34. Employe of State. That for the purpose of voting, no 
person who is in the emplo^^nent of this state or any municipal 



16 GEXEEAL ELECTION LAWS. 

subdivision thereof in any civil capacity shall be deemed to have 
gained or lost a residence by reason of such employment, but all 
such officers or employes shall be considered as residents of the 
place from whence thev were elected or appointed. (G. S. 1909, 
§3121.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 17 

CHAPTER IV. 
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT LAW. 

§ 35. Ballots Printed at Public Expense. All ballots cast in any 
general election or special election in the state, in any political 
subdivision thereof larger than a school district, shall, after the 
taking effect of this act, be printed and distributed at public ex- 
pense. The printing and distribution of ballots and all other ex- 
penses connected with or growing out of the provisions of this act, 
or that are necessary to provide for the elections thereunder, shall 
be paid by the townships and cities of the first and second classes ; 
and it shall be the duty of the county commissioners to apportion 
such expenses to the townships and cities of the county in pro- 
portion to the votes cast at the last preceding general election in 
each township and city. It shall be the duty of the county clerk 
to charge such expenses, as apportioned by the board of county 
commissioners, to the general fund of the several townships and 
cities of the first and second classes : Provided, however, That where 
a national soldiers' home is located in any township, such ex- 
penses for the holding of an election at the election precincts on 
the grounds of such home shall not be charged to the township, 
but shall be paid by the board of county commissioners out of the 
general fund of the county. (G. S. 1909, § 3248.) 

§ 36. City and General Elections. The printing and distribu- 
tion of ballots for use in city elections shall be at the expense of 
the cities or towns in which such elections shall be held. The 
term '^general election/' as used in this act, shall apply to any 
election held for the choice of national, state, judicial, district or 
county officers, whether for the full term or the filhng of a vacancy. 
The term ''city election" shall apply to any municipal election 
held in a city or incorporated town. (G. S. 1909, § 3249.) 

§ 37. Nominations. All nominations made by political parties 
shall be known and designated as ''party nominations," and the 
certificates by which such nominations are certified shall be known 
and designated as "party certificates of nomination." Party 
nominations of candidates for public office can be made only by a 
delegate or mass convention, primary election or caucus of qual- 
ified voters belonging to one political party having a national or 

—2 



18 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

state organization : Provided, That party nominations for city 
officers may be made by a convention, primary election or caucus 
of qualified electors belonging to a political party having only a 
local organization. Party nominations so made shall, subject to 
the pro"\dsions of this act, be placed upon the official ballot. (G. 
S. 1909, §3250.) 

§ 38. Certificate. Any political party having a state or national 
organization, by means of a delegate or mass convention, primary 
election, or caucus of qualified voters belonging to such party, 
may, for the state or municipality, or any lawfully organized 
portion of either, for which such convention, primary election or 
caucus is held, nominate one person for each office that is to be 
filled therein at the next ensuing election, and, subject to the pro- 
visions of this act, file a certificate of such nominations so made. 
Every such certificate shall be signed by the presiding officer and 
a secretary of the convention or caucus making such nominations. 
Where such nominations are made by primary election, the cer- 
tificate shall be signed by the members of the board of canvassers 
to which the returns of such primary election are made. In each 
case the persons signing the certificates shall add to their signa- 
tures their places of residence, and shall make and subscribe an 
oath that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, such certifi- 
cates and the statements therein made are true ; and a certificate 
that such oath has been taken and administered shall be made and 
signed on such certificate of nomination by the officer before 
whom the same was taken. (G. S. 1909, § 3251.) 

§ 39. Independent Nominations. All nominations other than 
party nominations shall be known and designated as ^'independent 
nominations," and the nomination papers whereby such nomina- 
tions are made shall be known and designated as ''independent 
certificates of nomination." Independent nominations of can- 
didates for any office to be filled by the voters of the state at large 
may be made by nomination papers signed by not less than 
twenty-five hundred qualified voters of the state for each candi- 
date. Independent nominations of candidates for offices to be 
filled by the voters of a county, district or other division less than 
a state may be made by nomination papers signed by not less 
than five per centum of the qualified voters of such county, dis- 
trict, or other division, for each candidate ; and in no case to be 
signed by less than twenty-five voters of such county, district, or 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 19 

division, for each candidate. Independent nominations of candi- 
dates for offices to be filled by the voters of a township, city or 
ward may be made by nomination papers signed by not less than 
five per cent of the qualified voters of such township, city, or ward, 
for each candidate, and in no case to be signed by less than ten 
such voters of such township, city, or ward, for each candidate. 
The signatures to such nomination papers need not all be ap- 
pended to one paper, but each voter signing an independent cer- 
tificate of nomination shall add to his signature his place of resi- 
dence and post office address, and one of the signers to each 
separate certificate shall make and subscribe an oath that the 
signatures thereto are genuine, and also that, to the best of his 
knowledge and belief, the statements therein contained are true, 
and a certificate of such oath shall be annexed to each such nomi- 
nation paper. No such nomination paper shall contain the 
names of more candidates for any office than there are persons to 
be elected thereto, and if it does it shall be void. No person shall 
join in nominating more than one person for the same office, and 
if he does his name shall not be counted on any certificate. (G. S. 
1909, §3252.) 

§ 40. Certificates of Nomination; Emblem. All certificates of 
nomination shall be in writing, shall contain the name of each 
person nominated, his residence, his business, and the office for 
which he is nominated. Party certificates of nomination shall 
designate in not more than two words, of which the word ^^ party" 
shall be one, the political party which the convention, primary 
election or caucus making the nominations represented ; as, for 
instance, '^republican party," '^ democratic party," '' people's 
party," '^populist party," or '' prohibition party"; but a com- 
pound or hyphenated word shall not be used to designate the 
name of a pohtical party within the meaning of this act. When 
electors for president and vice-president of the United States are 
nominated, the names of the candidates for president and vice- 
president may also be shown on the certificates. Party certifi- 
cates of nomination shall contain and show, by a representation 
thereof, some simple de^dce or emblem to designate and dis- 
tinguish the candidates of the political party making the nom- 
inations. Within thirty days after the taking effect of this act, 
the chairman of the state committee of each political party may 
file with the secretary of state his certificate setting forth and 



20 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

showing, by a representation thereof, his selection of a device or 
emblem for the political party represented by him. The device 
or emblem so chosen and filed shall be used thereafter to desig- 
nate and distinguish all the candidates of that political party 
upon all tickets throughout the state and in all subdivisions and 
municipalities thereof : Provided, That any state convention of 
said party may change said device or emblem by adopting any 
other in its stead that is not then in use by any other political 
party, and by filing with the secretary of state a certificate signed 
by the presiding officer and a secretary of said convention setting 
forth and showing, by a representation thereof, said newly adopted 
device or emblem and the action of said convention in reference 
thereto. No device or emblem shall be used or shown in making: 
independent nominations. No political party shall select any 
device or emblem the same as, similar to, or that is liable to be 
confounded with or mistaken for, the device or emblem then in 
use by any other political party. If, for any reason, no device 
or emblem shall be selected for a political party within thirty 
days from the taking effect of this act as herein provided, then it 
shall be lawful, until a state convention of said party shall be held, 
for the members of such party, in conventions, primary elections 
or caucuses held by them to make nominations, to select and use 
such devices or emblems as they prefer, subject to the provisions 
of this act ; but it shall be the duty of the first state convention 
held by such party, and also the duty of the first state convention 
held by any political party hereafter organized, to select and file 
with the secretary of state, as hereinbefore provided, a device or 
emblem for said party, which shall continue to be used, or may be 
changed as herein provided. The device or emblem herein re- 
ferred to may be the representation of a star, an animal, an anchor 
or other appropriate symbol, but neither the coat of arms nor seal 
of any state, nor of the United States, the national flag, nor any 
religious emblem or symbol, nor the portrait of any person, nor a 
representation of a coin or of the currency of the United States, 
shall be chosen as such distinguishing device or emblem. All 
certificates of nominations and certificates showing devices or 
emblems selected by or for a poHtical party, when filed with the 
proper officer, shall be treated as public records and shall be open 
to public inspection, and certified copies thereof shall be received 
in evidence upon the same conditions and with the same effect as- 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 21 

certified copies of other public records. If the same or sub- 
stantially the same de\dce or emblem shall be selected and filed by 
two or more political parties, or if T\Titten objections to any de\4ce 
or emblem set forth and shown in any certificate of nomination 
be made and filed by any person with the officer ^dth whom such 
de^4ce, emblem or certificate has been filed, such objections and 
all questions arising in reference to such devices and emblems shall 
be acted upon, considered and decided in accordance ^dth the 
provisions of section 10 of the act of which this act is amendatory, 
and by the several tribunals therein mentioned, and the decision 
of said tribunal shall be final. "^Miere the decision of said tribunal 
is against the use of any device or emblem, the political party 
against whom the decision is rendered may select and file another 
device or emblem within five days after such decision is rendered 
on the same conditions and thi'ough the same agencies by which the 
original device or emblem was selected, or through which a va- 
cancy on the ticket may be filled. If, after such decision, no new 
device or emblem be so selected and filed by such poHtical party, 
the tribunal rendering the decision shall, immediately after the 
expiration of said fiv^e days, select another device or emblem for 
said party, which shall be printed on all its tickets. If there be a 
division v\ithin a party, and two or more factions claim the same 
or substantially the same device, emblem, or party name, or if 
two or more conv^entions are called by different authorities, each 
claiming to represent the same party for that purpose, the sev^eral 
tribunals provided for in section 10 of the act of which this act is 
amendatory shall decide, in accordance with the provisions of 
said section, which of said factions or conv^entions is entitled to 
the use of the device, emblem, or party name, so that the same or 
substantially the same party name, device or emblem shall not 
appear more than once on the official ballot ; and the decision of 
such tribunal shall be final. ( G. S. 1909, § 3253.) 

§ 41. Filing Certificates. Certificates of nomination and 
nomination papers for the nomination of candidates for offices 
to be filled by the electors of the entire state, or any division 
or district greater than a county, shall be filed with the secre- 
tary of state not less than forty days before the day fixed by law 
for the election for which the candidates are nominated. All 
other certificates for the nomination of candidates shall be filed 
with the county clerks of the respective counties not less than 



22 GEXER-\L ELECTION L.\WS. 

thirty days previous to the day of such election : P : . ■' i. That 
when the election is to fill a vacancy in the office of senator or 
member of the house of re^^r^==::"atives which shall have oc- 
curred during, or within ioir." .'y- prior to the commencement 
of. any session of the "^^i-"-:: ir -.:ch certificates of no m ination 
or nomination papers may be nicd with the secretary' :: s^ate 
or the proper coimty clerk not less than ten days pri : : : : :he 
election to fill s;::":: v:,::,i::y, Tbe "ti::" :::-:e= :: nominarion 
and nomination papers for the n-jn^na::::: :: jinLiidates for the 
officer in cities shall be filed with the cler^i^ :: :he cities not less 
than ten days previous to such election. G. S. 1909. § 32-54. 

§42. Orit Xc ' '^':'- :' -:-\:-' :' X ;--■/'■'■-:{. Xo person 

shall accept more z:^^i^ ;i.c r^ii^i.:^::::^ :;r :^e sii^e :~ce. ^lien- 
ever any person shall receive two or more no m i n ations for the 
same office at different date- he shall be deemed to have ac- 
cepted the nomination first niaae :ii.d to have declined the r.rhers, 
unless within the time lim ited for filing certfficates : : :: : mi- 
nation he shall file in the office where such ceiTificates : : :: : ini- 
nation are required to be filed a written statement, sigi^rf. iii'i 
sworn to by him. designating which one of such nomhi::.:::::- 
he desires to acc-r: : ::.:::■. ■;.";:"- ~X fJing thereof he shall be 
deemed to have fieclme:": :i.e ::iier nominations. TThenever 
any person shall receive two or more nominations for the same 
office on the -::::-^ :■:':- :' -:.::.'/. ■:^ hi- fiiity. within the time 
limi ted for the r'-^ :: :er::zca:e^ :: i^i rni nation, to file with 
the. officer with whom the ceitificates of nomination are filed 
a written statement, signed an:: -^^-:r:. ": 'y- him. designating 
which one of such nominations iie ciesiies :: accept, and upon 
the filing thereof he shall be deemed to have dechned the other 
nominations : and if he shall refuse or neglect to so file such an 
election, the officer with whom the certificates of nomination 
are ffied shall, immediately upon the expiration of the time for 
the filing of certfficates of nomination, mahe and file in his office 
an election of one nomination for such candidate. The officer 
charged with the printing of the official ballots shall print such 
candidate's name upon the official ballot under the designation 
so selected but under no other designation whatever. Any 
person wh ':.:> ":--:: :::niinated for an office may cause his name 
to be withdi^a^Ti from nomination by his request in writing. 
signed by him and acknowledged before an officer quahfied to 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 23 

take acknowledgments of deeds, and filed with the secretary of 
state not less than thirty days, or with the county clerk not less 
than twenty days, or with the city clerk not less than eight days, 
previous to the day of election ; and no name so withdrawn shall 
be printed on the ballots. All certificates of nomination, when 
filed, shall be open under proper regulations to public inspection, 
and the secretary of state, the several county clerks and city 
clerks having charge of such certificates shall preserve the same 
in their respective offices for one year after the election. (G. S. 
1909, § 3255.) 

§ 43. Vacancy, How Filled. In case a candidate who has 
been duly nominated under the provisions of this act dies before 
election day, or decline the nomination as in this act provided, or 
should any certificate of nomination be held insufficient or in- 
operative by the officers with whom they may be filed, the va- 
cancy or vacancies thus occasioned may be filled by the political 
party or the persons making the original nominations ; or, if 
the time is insufficient therefor, then the vacancy may be filled, 
if the nomination was by convention, primary, or caucus, in 
such manner as the convention, primary or caucus had pre- 
viously provided ; or in case of no such provisions, then by 
the regularly elected or appointed executive or central committee 
representing the political party or persons holding such con- 
vention, primary meeting, or caucus. The certificates of nomi- 
nations made to supply such vacancy shall state, in addition to 
the facts hereinbefore required by this act, the name of the 
original nominee, the date of his death or declination of nomi- 
nation, or the .fact that the former nomination had been held 
insufficient or inoperative, and the measures taken in accordance 
with the above requirements for filling a vacancy; and it shall 
be signed and sworn to by the presiding officer and the secretary 
of the convention, primary or caucus, or by the chairman and 
secretary of the duly authorized committee, as the case may be. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3256.) 

§ 44. Objections to Nominations; Notice. The certificate of 
nomination and nomination papers being so filed, and being 
in apparent conformity with this act, shall be deemed to be 
valid, unless objection thereto is duly made in writing within 
three days from the date said papers are filed with the proper 
officers. Such objections or other questions arising in relation 



24 GENEIL\L ELECTION L.\WS. 

thereto, iii the case of nominations of state officers or officers 
to be elected by the voters of a division less than a state and 
greater than a county, shall be considered by the secretan* of 
state, auditor of state, and attorney-general, and a decision of a 
majority of these officers shah be final. Such objections or ques- 
tions arising in the case of nominations for officers to be elected 
by the voters of a county or township shall be considered by the 
county clerk, clerk of the district comt, and county attorney : 
and the decision of a majority of said officers shall be final. 
Objections or ciuestions arising in the case of nominations for 
city or incorporated to^m officers shall be considered by the mayor 
and clerk, with whom one councilman, chosen by a majority 
of the councilmen. shall act : and the decision of a majority of 
such officers shall be final. In any case where objection is made, 
notice shall forthwith be given, by the officer with whom the 
objections are ffiecl. to the candidates aft'ected thereby, addi^essed 
to their places of residence as given in the nomination papers, 
and stating the time when, in no case to be more than five days 
if a state or district officer, nor more than thi'ee days if a county 
officer, and the place where such objections will be considered. 
All mandamus proceedings to compel an officer to certify and 
place upon the ballot any name or names, and all injimction 
proceedings asking that said officers be restrained from certify- 
ing and placing upon the ballot any name or names, must be 
commenced not less than twenty days before the election. • G. S. 
1909. § 3257.) 

§ 45. Secretary of State to C edify, "^lien such certificate is 
ffied ^ith the secretary of state, he shall, in certifying nomi- 
nations to the various county clerks, insert the name of the per- 
son thus nominated to fill vacancy in place of the original nomi- 
nee : and in the event that he has already sent forward his certifi- 
cate, he shall forthwith certify to the clerks of the proper coim- 
ties the name and description of the person so nominated to fill 
the vacancy, the office he is nominated for. ^ith the other de- 
tails mentioned in certfficates of nomination ffied ^ith the secre- 
toiy of state. He shall immediately certify the name so supphed 
to the authorities charged ^ith the printing of the ballots. The 
name so supplied for the A'acancy shall, if the ballots are not 
already printed, be placed on the baUots in place of the name of 
the original nominee : or. if the ballots have been printed, new 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 25 

ballots, whenever practicable, shall be furnished. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3258.) 

§ 46. Name Changed on Ballot. Whenever it may not be 
practicable to have new ballots printed, it shall be the duty of 
the election officer having charge of the ballots to place the name 
so supplied for the vacancy upon each ballot issued before de- 
Hvering it to the voter ; the name so supplied may be placed 
upon the ballots either by affixing a paster or by writing or 
stamping the name upon the ballot ; and to enable this to be 
done, the ofiicer with whom the certificates of nomination are 
to be filed shall immediately furnish the name of such substituted 
nominee to all judges of election within the territory in which 
such nominee may be a candidate : Provided, That in all cases 
where the certificates of nomination or nomination papers are 
filed with the secretary of state he shall be required only to 
immediately furnish the name of such substituted nominee to 
the county clerks within said territory, and it shall then be the 
duty of the county clerk to furnish such information to the judges 
of election as hereinbefore stated. (G. S. 1909, § 3259.) 

§ 47. Certify to Clerk. Not less than twenty days before an 
election to fill any pubfic office, the secretar}^ of the state shall 
certify to the county clerk of each county within which any of 
the electors may by law vote for the candidates for such office, 
the name and residence of each person nominated for such office, 
as specified in the certificates of nomination or nomination papers 
filed with the secretary of state. (G. S. 1909, § 3260.) 

§ 48. What ^hall he Printed on Ballots; Instructions on. The 
names of all candidates for national, state, congressional, legis- 
lative, judicial and county offices to be voted for in each town- 
ship, ward or precinct shall be printed on one ballot, which shall 
be known and designated as the ^^ general ballot." The names 
of all candidates for township offices shall be printed on a sepa- 
rate ballot, which shall be known and designated as the 'town- 
ship ballot." The names of all candidates for city and ward 
offices, in city elections, shall be printed on a separate ballot, 
which shall be known and designated as the ''city ballot." All 
official ballots shall be printed in black ink, on clear white book 
paper, through which the printing or writing cannot be read. 
Extending across the entire width of the ballot, and at the top 



26 GENEK^L ELECTION LAWS. 

thereof, the following instructions to A^oters shall be printed in 
pica t}T3e : 

First. If you desire to vote a straight party ticket, make a cross X mark in the 
circle on the ticket you wish to vote, and novrhere else on the ballot. 

Second. If you prefer not to vote a straight party ticket, make a cross X mark 
in the circle as before, and then make a cross X mark in the square to the right of 
the names of such other candidates as you wish to vote for found under any other 
party name. 

Third. If 3'ou prefer not to vote am^ party ticket, then make the cross X mark 
in the square to the right of the name of such candidates as you wish to vote for. and 
nowhere else on the ballot. 

Fourth. If you desire to vote for a name not on the ballot, write the name in 
the blank column and make a cross X mark in the square to the right of such name. 

If you tear, deface or wrongh- mark this ballot, return it to the judges and receive 
another. 

On the back or outside of the ballot, so as to appear when 
folded, shall be printed the words ^'oflacial general ballot," or 
'"official township baUot." or "official city ballot,"' as the case 
may be, fohowed by the designation of the polhng-place for which 
the ballot is prepared, the date of the election, and facsimile of 
the signatiu'e of the clerk or other officer who has caused the 
ballot to be printed. All nominations made and certified in 
accordance with the provisions of this act. and none other, 
shall be printed on the official ballot. Party nominations shall 
be placed in separate columns under the name of such party as 
designated in the certificates of nomination ; as, for instance, 
'■'repubhcan ticket," "democratic ticket," "people's ticket," 
"popuhst ticket." or' 'prohibition ticket.'' The name of each can- 
didate shall be printed on the ballot once and no more. Xo name 
that is printed on the baUot can be ^litten elsewhere on the bal- 
lot. Xo more names shall be printed under the title of an office 
on a ticket than there are persons to be elected to such office. 
Ballots shall contain no other names than those of nominees. 
except that the names of canchdates for electors for president 
and vice-president of the I'nited States may be preceded by the 
names of the candidates for president and ^ice-president . The 
ticket of the party casting the highest mmiber of votes in the 
state for the office of governor at the last preceding state election 
shall be placed in the first column on the official ballot, and the 
position of other party tickets on said ballot shall be governed 
relatively by the same rule. Independent nominations shall be 
placed to the right of the party nominations, in such order as 
they may be filed. On the right of the ballots shall be a column 
in which shall be printed only the titles of the offices to be voted 
for by the electors at the polling-place for which the ballot is 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 27 

printed, which column shall be known and designated as the 
''blank column.'' Each ticket or column (except the blank 
column and column for independent nominations) on the official 
ballot shall be headed by the device or emblem chosen for the 
political party making the nomination therein shown. Below 
the device or emblem and above the party name there shall be 
printed, in the middle of the column, a black circle three-fourths 
of an inch in diameter, so as to give each voter a clear oppor- 
tunity to designate his desire to vote for each and every candi- 
date on such ticket by a cross-mark in said circle. Above such 
circle, in parallel lines, the following shall be printed in pica type : 

. I desire to vote a straight [insert party name; as, Republican] ticket, as shown 
by the cross X mark in the circle thereon, except as otherwise indicated by the 
cross X mark opposite the names of other candidates elsewhere on the ballot. 

A clear space of one-half an inch shall be left between the 
circle and the device or emblem above it. Below the circle the 
party name of the ticket shall be printed, in pica capital letters, 
which shall be followed by the respective lists of candidates, 
arranged in such order as the officer charged with the prepara- 
tion of the ballots shall decide, except as hereinafter provided. 
The title of the office, together with the names of the candidates 
therefor, shall be printed in a space not more than one-half inch 
in depth and not less than two inches in width, defined by fight 
horizontal ruled lines, and at the right of the name of each candi- 
date shall be printed a square, which shall be not less than one- 
fourth of an inch in length. Whenever any party convention 
shall nominate candidates for presidential electors, justices of 
the supreme court, or railroad commissioners, such candidates 
shall be nominated one at a time, and, together with candidates 
for such offices that may be nominated by primary election or 
petition, shall be placed on the official ballot, in the order in 
which they are certified to the secretary of state, and the candi- 
dates so nominated and so certified shall be construed to be, and 
shall become, candidates opposed to each other for such office 
as certified, in the order in which they are certified to the said 
secretary of state. When no nomination has been made by a 
political party for an office to be filled at the election, or if a 
nomination has been made, but under the provisions of this act 
the name of the nominee cannot be printed on the official ballot, 
the title of such office shall be printed in such party column, 
and underneath such title shall be printed, in pica capital and 



Oy 



GENTPJLL ELECnOX LAWS 



lower-case t>-pe. the words "no nomination." but no voting square 
shall ^- r laced after the words "no ncirnn:^":::i: ' Ea:h of the 
adjoi:::- ;: ::Jiuniis containing the hst of ;:-i::^;i.\:r- ^zil oe sepa- 
rated by two <ii5:iiic: lines not less than j no- sixteenth of an inch 
apart : all as is shown in the acconipan-.-ing sample ballot. 

SAMPLE BALLOT. 








EIPrBLICAJT TZCSJ.T. Di;i£0'C2.AriC TICKET. 




D 
D 



-l: 







7:.-7T -riirT 


J:- ---- 


1 = •■ - : r — 






- 





- ^ :7?.-:. 1 


' - r :ua;- 


i^ji^j; a. i-jis mciairr_.Et li 







SO'CTAITsT 


ncsin'. 




r . . ^ -.. 








- - = - 










7:-^-a : - 


i I-; :-. 




: ■:' :' r ■ 


ETiT- r 


::izr 




''' ':'-\ '■•--'/ 


;^^^r-' - 


— 














T - - - . - 


— 


— 


>7. - " ^11 1 


- -:- 










•■-■-: ^- , 














":■ :--r-- :- 


-_:•;: — 


^-' 














::t;.tt 


-rrrr 




--.■^--..- :_-..._- - — 




J:^' [ 


~~ 




:--■• ta 


u 



E1A5S COLnCS. 



li 



— G. S. 1909. 5 3261 



D 



D 



D 



u 



n 



n 



D 



GEXEIL^L ELECTION L-\WS. 29 



§ 49. Printing and Distribution of Ballots. The county clerks 
of their respective counties shall have charge of the printing of the 
ballots for all elections, primary', special and general, except city 
elections, and the city clerk shall have charge of the printing of the 
ballots for the city. The county commissioners or the city clerk, 
as the case may be, shall let the contract for the printing of all 
such ballots to some newspaper printed in the coimty. at the fol- 
lowing prices ; and in computing the number of ballots printed, 
the total mmiber of all townships and parties shall be counted at 
the rate here provided as one lot. and not a separate number for 
each township or party. (G. S. 1909. § 3262. ) 

Sec. 2. For the first one himdred ballots for the regular pri- 
mary- election complete, including candidates for national, state, 
district, coimty and township officers, $17.50 for each party ticket 
and the blank ticket, and 50 cents for each additional hundred 
after the fii\st hundred for each party. In addition he shall be 
allowed S3 for each change in the ticket of the candidates for 
township offices : that is, that the change from one township to 
another shall be counted as but one change, and 50 cents for each 
other change in the face of the ticket : and he shall be allowed 50 
cents for each change on the back of the ticket of the precinct 
indorsement. [Id., § 2.] 

Sec. 3. For the ffi^st one himdi^ed ballots for the city primary 
election, 87 for each party ticket and 50 cents for each adchtional 
hundred after the ffi^st, and 50 cents for each change in the in- 
dorsement on the ticket, and 81.50 for aU changes in any one ward 
on the face of the ticket. [Id., § 3.] 

Sec. 4. For the ffi\st one hundred ballots of the general elec- 
tion for state and coimty offices. 812.50 for the first ticket, includ- 
ing the heading and indorsement, and 86 for each additional 
ticket on said baUot, and 60 cents per hundi'ed ballots for each 
hundred after the first. He shaU also be allowed 50 cents for 
each change on the face of the ticket or the indorsement on the 
back. [Id.. §4.] 

Sec. 5. For the first one hundred ballots for the general 
township election. So for the first ticket, including the heading and 
indorsement, and 81 for each additional ticket on said ballot, and 
50 cents per hundred for each hundred ballots after the first. 
And he shall be allowed 50 cents for every change on the different 
tickets. This price shall apply to all township ballots printed, 
counting each name changed as one change, but the total for 



30 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

changes from one township to another shall not exceed $3.50. 
[Id., §5.] 

Sec. 6. For the first one hundred ballots for any special 
election, or for constitutional amendments, or for questions sub- 
mitted, $5, and 25 cents per hundred for each additional hundred 
after the first. He shall also be allowed 50 cents for each change 
in the indorsement required. [Id., § 6.] 

Sec. 7. For the first one hundred ballots for the general city 
election, $5 for the first ticket, including the heading and indorse- 
ment, and SI for each additional ticket on said ballot, and 50 cents 
per hundred ballots for each hundred after the first. And he 
shall be allowed 50 cents for each change in the indorsement and 
$1.50 for all the changes in the face of the ticket in any one ward. 
[Id., §7.] 

Sec. 8. The ballots shall be printed on clear white paper of 
sufficient strength as not to be punctured by ordinar}^ pencil- 
marking, and thick enough that the marks may not be seen through 
the paper. They shall be put in the possession of the officer 
charged with their distribution at least five days before the elec- 
tion, accompanied by sufficient number, not to exceed fifty for 
each precinct, of exact copies of said ballots, printed on -paper of 
any other color than white, for the inspection of candidates and 
their agents and for distribution through each of the party organ- 
izations. If any mistakes be discovered they shall be corrected 
without delay. The officer so charged with the printing of said 
ballots shall cause to be delivered to either of the judges of elec- 
tion, not less than twelve hours before the time fixed by^ law for 
the opening of the polls therein, seventy-five ballots of the kind 
to be voted in such precinct for every fifty votes or fraction 
thereof cast therein at the last preceding general election for state 
officers in townships and township precincts, and seventy-five 
ballots for each fifty names on the registration books in wards of 
cities of the first and second class. Such ballots shall be put in 
separate sealed packages of fifty ballots each, with marks on the 
outside clearly designating the polling-place for which they are 
intended and the number of ballots inclosed ; and receipts there- 
for shall be given by the judge or judges of election to whom they 
are delivered, which receipt shall be preserved by the officer 
charged with the printing of the ballot. The officer or authorities 
charged with the printing and distributing of the ballots shall pro- 
vide and retain at his or their office an additional supply of ballots 



GENERAL ELECTION L.\WS. 31 

in excess of those distributed to the several voting precincts equal 
to the number so distributed, and if at any time on or before the 
da}' of election the ballots furnished to any of the precincts shall be 
lost, destroyed or exhausted before the polls are closed, on written 
apphcation signed by a majority of the judges of such precinct, 
or signed and sworn to b}^ one of such judges, the county clerk 
shall immediately cause to be dehvered to one of such judges at 
such polhng-place such adchtional supply of ballots as may be 
required and sufficient to complv with the provisions of tliis act. 
[Id.. §8.] 

§ 50. Constitutional Amendment; Ballot. TMienever a con- 
stitutional amendment or other proposition or question is to be 
submitted to the voters of the state or any district or municipahty 
thereof, a separate ballot shall be provided by the same officers 
who are charged by law with the duty of providing the official 
ballots for candidates for pubhc office. Such ballot shall comply 
vdth the requirements for official ballot for candidates for pubhc 
office in so far as such requirements are apphcable thereto. Upon 
said ballot there shall be printed by designated title, in brevier 
lower-case type, the constitutional amendment or other propo- 
sition or question upon which the voters within the township, 
ward or precinct for which such ballot is prepared may lav\*fully 
vote, preceded by the words, ''Shall the foUowing be adopted'?" 
If there be more than one constitutional amendment, proposition 
or question to be voted upon, the different amendments, propo- 
sitions or questions shall be separately numbered and printed, and 
be separated by a broad sohd hne one-eighth of an inch v\ide. 
Opposite and after each such amendment, proposition or question 
so submitted sh'aU be printed two squares, one above the other. 
Preceding the upper one of such squares shall be printed the word 
'"Yes,'' and preceding the lower one of such squares shall be 
printed the word ''Xo.'" Across the entire width of said ballot, 
and at the top thereof, shall be printed in pica tv^^e the following 
instructions : "To vote in favor of any question submitted upon 
this ballot, make a cross X mark in the square after the word 
'Yes'; to vote against it, make a similar mark in the square 
after the word 'Xo.' '' On the back of each such ballot shall be 
printed, in addition to the indorsements prescribed for general, 
township and city ballots, the words ''Questions submitted." 
When such questions are to be submitted, a separate ballot-box 



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GEXEE_\L ELECXrOX L-\WS. 33 

all to be qualified voters of the precinct for which the}' are ap- 
pointed. One of said judges and one of said clerks to be ap- 
pointed by said mayor and trustee as aforesaid shall be taken from 
the poHtical party that polled the largest number of votes in the 
state at the last state election for the office of governor, and one 
of said judges and one of said clerks from the pohtical party that 
at said election cast the next highest number of votes for the office 
of governor. Said two judges and said two clerks shall be ap- 
pointed b}' said mayor or tiTistee upon the recommendation of 
the chauTnan of the county central committees of said pohtical 
parties, provided such there be : Provided. That in the appoint- 
ment of judges and clerks for city elections in cities of the fii^st and 
second class, the mayor shall be governed by the recommendations 
of the chairmen of the city central committees of the several 
pohtical parties. The third judge shall be selected and ap- 
pointed by the mayor, by and with the consent of the city council. 
or by the township trustee, \^ithout such recommendations. .\nd 
if any of said judges or clerks shall fail or refuse to appear and 
sen.'e at the proper time and place, or for any cause are or become 
disqualified, then the electors present shall select from their mmi- 
ber, viva voce, such persons from the pohtical parties as herein 
designated to fill such vacancies, who shall take and subscribe 
the same oath prescribed for judges and clerks of election. Said 
judges shall designate one of their number whose duty it shall be 
to have charge of the baUots and to furnish them to the voters 
in the manner herein provided. All judges and clerks appointed 
by the township trustees as hereinbefore pro^^ded shall, at least 
one day before election, appear before such township trustees 
and take and siibscribe an oath to discharge their duties as such 
judges and clerks faithfuUy and honestly, and said township 
trustee is hereby authorized to administer oaths for such pur- 
poses : Provided, In cities ha\'ing a connnissioner of elections, 
such commissioner shall, in all cases, select the judges and clerks 
of election in like manner as herein provided for the mayor and 
city council of other cities, upon the recommendation of the chair- 
men of the central committees of the several political parties, and 
such judges and clerks shall be notified and qualify, and vacan- 
cies shall be filled as hereinbefore provided. ; G. S. 1909, § 3266.) 

§ 54. Voting-places; Arrangement oj Booths. It shall be the 
duty of the township trustees and the mayors and clerks of in- 

—3 



34 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

corporated cities to provide suitable places in which to hold all 
elections provided for in this act, and to see that the same are 
warmed, lighted, and furnished with proper supplies and con- 
veniences, including a sufficient number of booths, shelves and 
soft black-lead pencils, to enable the voter to prepare his ballot 
for voting, and in which voters may prepare their ballots, screened 
from all observation as to the manner in which they do so. A 
guard-rail shall be so constructed and placed that only such 
persons as are inside such rail can approach within six feet of the 
ballot-box and of such voting-booth. The arrangements shall be 
such that the voting-booths can be reached only by passing with- 
in said guard-rail. They shall be in plain view of the election 
officers, and both they and the ballot-boxes shall be in plain view 
of those outside the guard-rail. Each of said booths shall have 
three sides inclosed, one side in front to open and shut by a door 
swinging outward, or to be inclosed with, a curtain. Each side 
of said booths shall be seven feet high, and the door or curtain 
shall extend to within two feet of the floor, and said door or 
curtain shall be closed while the voter is preparing his ballot, and 
each of said booths shall be well lighted. Each booth shall be 
at least thxee feet square, and shall contain a shelf at least one 
foot wide, at a convenient height for writing. No person other 
than election officers and challengers allowed by law, and those 
admitted for the purpose of voting as hereinafter provided, shall 
be permitted within the guard-rail except by the authority of the 
election officers, to keep order and enforce the law. The number 
of such voting-booths shall not be less than one to every sixty 
voters or fraction thereof who voted at the last preceding general 
election within such precinct. The expense of providing booths 
and guard-rails and other things required by this act shall be paid 
in the same manner as other election expenses. Said booths shall 
be constructed of any material that will form a screen from pubhc 
view and render the voter free from observation while marking his 
ballot ; and said booths shall be deposited with the township 
trustee or city clerk, to be preserved for future use. In all cases 
where it is not otherwise practicable, in precincts outside of cities, 
elections may be held in public-school buildings, and all damages 
to the buildings cr furniture shall be a just claim against the town- 
ship. (G. S. 1909, §3267.) 

§ 55. Voting Place in Adjoining City. That where any city 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 35 

of the second or third class now constitutes or may hereafter con- 
stitute a separate municipal township, any county township sur- 
rounding or adjoining such municipal township located in the 
same county as any such city of the second or third class, the 
proper officers of any such county township are hereby author- 
ized to, and may, designate a place or places within any such 
municipal township where any election or primary of such county 
township held for any purpose, either township, county, state, or 
national, under the laws of this state, may be held, and the election 
and primaries so held at such place or places designated by said 
county township officers shall be as lawful as if held in the terri- 
tory of such county township outside *any such city of the second 
or third class. And if any county seat which is now or may be 
hereafter located in any such city of the second or third class, the 
said officers of such county township may, by and with the con- 
sent of the board of county commissioners of the county where 
such city is located, designate the court-house in such municipal 
township as the place for holding any such election or primary ; 
and where the officers of any such count}^ township have selected 
or designated a place as aforesaid anywhere in any such municipal 
township, such place may be used for the purpose of transacting 
and performing any and all county township business : Provided, 
That no election or primary held as aforesaid by any such county 
township shall be held in any building or room occupied or used 
by any such city of the second or third class, or ward thereof, for 
the purpose of holding elections or primaries. (3268 as amended 
by Laws 1911, ch. 183, §1.) 

§ 56. Manner of Voting. Any person desiring to vote in pre- 
cincts where registration is required shall give his name, and if 
required, his residence, to the judges of election, one of whom 
shall thereupon announce the same in a loud and distinct tone of 
voice, and if such name be found on the register of voters, by the 
officer having charge thereof, he shall likewise repeat said name, 
and the voter shall be allowed to enter the space inclosed by the 
guard-rail as above provided. Any person desiring to vote in 
any township or precinct outside of cities of the first or second 
class shall give his name and the number of the road district in 
which he is a voter, before entering the inclosed space. The 
clerks shall thereupon place his name and number upon the poll- 
lists, and one of the judges, designated by the election board, shall 



36 GEXER-\L ELECTIOX LAWS. 

give the voter one and only one of each ballot to be cast at such 
election, on the upper right-hand corner of each of which he shall 
have inscribed, with pen and ink, the number corresponding to the 
voter's number upon the poll-list, and the voter's name shall be 
immediately checked on the registry- hst. Upon all township 
ballots, the said judge of election shall also fill in with pen and ink 
the number of the read district in which the voter resides. At all 
elections where registration is required, if the name of any person 
desiring to vote at such election be not found on the register of 
voters, he shall not receive a ballot. If any person desiring to 
vote at any election shall be challenged, he shall not receive a 
ballot tmtil he shall have established his right to vote, in the 
manner provided by law. but during the pendency of such chal- 
lenge other voters shall be giA^en ballots and be permitted to vote. 
Besides the election officers, not more than one voter in excess 
of the whole number of voting-booths provided shall be allowed 
in said inclosed space at one time. This section shall apply to 
and govern, where applicable, all persons desiring to vote in town- 
ships and precincts where registration is not required. In all 
cases the voter's number on the poll-list shall be marked upon his 
ballots befcre he receives them and be clipped therefrom before 
deposited in the ballot-boxes, unless such voter shall have been 
challenged. (G. S. 1909, § 3269.) 

§ 57. Maymer of Voting; Marking Ballots; Challenges. On 
receiWng his ballot, the voter shall forthwith and A\ithout leav- 
ing the inclosed space retire alone to one of the voting-booths, and 
without undue delay unfold and mark his ballot as hereafter de- 
scribed. Xo voter shall be allowed to occupy a booth akeady 
occupied by another, or to occupy a booth more than five min- 
utes in case all the booths are in use and voters waiting to occupy 
the same. It shall not be lawful to make any mark upon an 
official ballot other than the cross-mark used for the purpose of 
voting, with a pencil hsLving black lead, and that only in the circle 
at the top of the ticket or in the voting squares at the right of the 
names of candidates, or to write ami:hing thereon other than the 
name or names of persons not printed upon the ballot for whom 
the voter desires to vote, in the blank column under the appro- 
priate title of the office, or to deface or tear a ballot in any manner, 
or to erase any printed device, emblem, figure, letter or word 
therefrom, or to paste anything thereon, or for any person other 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 37 

than the voter to erase any mark or name written thereon by the 
voter. Whenever a cross X mark shall be made in the square at 
the right of the name of more than one candidate for the same 
office, such vote shall not invalidate the ballot, nor shall the same 
be counted for any such candidate. If a voter deface or tear a 
ballot or one of a set of ballots, or wrongly mark the same, he may 
successively obtain others, one set at a time and not exceeding three 
sets in all, upon returning each set of ballots so defaced, torn or 
wrongly marked to the judges. The voter shall observe the 
following rules in marking his ballots : If the voter desires to vote 
a straight ticket, that is, for each and every candidate of one 
part}'', for whatever office nominated, he may make a cross-mark 
in the circle at the head of the ticket for which he desires to vote. 
If the voter prefers not to vote a straight party ticket, he may 
make a cross-mark in the circle and then make a cross-mark in the 
square to the right of the names of such other candidates as he 
may wish to vote for, found under the same or any other party 
name or independent nomination. If he prefers not to vote any 
party ticket, then make the cross-mark in the square to the right 
of the names of such candidates as he desires to vote for, and no- 
where else on the ballot. If he desires to vote for a name not on 
the ballot, write the name in the blank column and make a cross 
X mark in the square to the right of such name. If he tears, de- 
faces or wrongly marks a ballot, he must return it to the judges 
and receive another. In the case of a constitutional amendment 
or other proposition or question submitted to popular vote, the 
voter shall make a cross-mark in the square on the right of and 
after the answer ''yes" or "no" which he desires to give thereto. 
Before leavirig the voting-booth, the voter shall fold each of his 
ballots separately in such a manner as to conceal the names of the 
candidates and the marks thereon, and so that the printed indorse- 
ment and the number thereon may be seen by the election board, 
and on leaving the booth the voter shall deliver each of said 
ballots to one of the judges of the election, who shall forthwith, 
and in the presence of the voter and of the election board, properly 
clip the number therefrom and deposit the ballots in tlieir re- 
spective ballot-boxes. In all townships and voting precincts 
outside of cities of the first and second class there shall be two 
ballot-boxes used, which shall be labeled "for general ballots" 
and "for township ballots," respectively ; in wards and precincts 
of cities of the first or second class, ballot-boxes which shall be 



38 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

labeled "for general ballots" shall be used, except that whenever 
city or ward officers are to be elected ballot-boxes shall be used 
which shall be labeled ''for city ballots." ^lien a constitutional 
amendment or other proposition or question is submitted to pop- 
ular vote, an additional ballot-box shall be used. All additional 
ballot-boxes required by this act shall be provided by the re- 
spective cities and townships at the expense of such cities and 
townships. If a voter shall be challenged, and shall vote after 
having been sworn the second time, as now provided by law, the 
number of the ballot as indorsed thereon by the election judges 
shall not be clipped therefrom. Xo voter not an election officer 
shall, after having voted, be allowed to enter said inclosed space 
during the election. Xo person shall take or remove any official 
ballot from the polling-place before the polls are closed. Xo voter 
shall vote or offer to vote any ballot except such as he has re- 
ceived from the judges of election in charge of the ballots. Any 
voter who, after receiving an official ballot, decides not to vote, 
shall, before returning from within the guard-rail, so notify the 
election officers and surrender to them all the official ballots 
which have been given him ; and a refusal to surrender such 
ballots shall subject the person so offending to immediate arrest 
and the penalties pro\ided bv law for such offenses. (G. S. 1909, 
§3270.) 

§ 58. Assisting Voter. Any voter who may declare upon oath 
that he cannot read the English language, or that by reason of 
any physical disabihty he is unable to mark his ballot, shall, upon 
request, be assisted in marking his ballot by two of the election 
officers of different political parties, to be selected from the judges 
and clerks of the precinct in which they are to act, to be desig- 
nated by the judges of election of each precinct at the opening 
of the polls. Such officer shall mark the ballot as directed by the 
voter, and shall thereafter give no information regarding the same. 
The clerks of elections shall enter upon poll-lists, after the name of 
any elector who received such assistance in marking his ballot, a 
memorandum of the fact. Intoxication shall not be regarded as 
a physical disabihty, and no intoxicated person shall be entitled to 
assistance in marking his ballot. (G. S. 1909, § 3271.) 

§ 59. Employe, Two Hours to Vote. Any person entitled to 
vote at a general election in this state shall, on the day of such 
election, be entitled to absent himself from anv service or em- 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 39 

ployment in which he is then engaged or employed for a period 
of two hours between the time of opening and closing the polls, 
and such voter shall not because of so absenting himself be liable 
to any penalty, nor shall deduction be made, on account of such 
absence, from his usual salary or wages : Provided, however, 
That application for such leave of absence shall be made prior 
to the day of election. The employer may specify the hours 
during which said employe may absent himself as aforesaid. 
Any person or corporation who shall refuse to an employe the 
privilege hereby conferred, or shall subject an employe to a 
penalty or deduction of wages because of the exercise of such 
privileges, or who shall in any manner attempt to influence or 
control such voter as to how he shall vote, by offering an}- re- 
ward, or by threatening his discharge from employment, or other- 
wise intimidating him from a full and free exercise of his right 
to vote, or shall directly or indirectly violate the provisions of 
this section, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be 
fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars nor more than one 
hundred dollars. (G. S. 1909, § 3272.) 

§ 60. Canvass of Vote; Certificate; Mark Defined; Counting; 
Disposal of Ballots. As soon as the polls are closed the election 
board shall canvass the votes, and not adjourn or postpone the 
canvass thereof until it shall be fully completed, except for meals, 
when three or more of the board shall remain in charge. They 
shall begin with the general ballots, and complete the canvass 
thereof and announce the result of such canvass before proceed- 
ing with the canvass of other ballots. The method of counting 
shall be as follows : The ballot-box shall be opened and the tickets 
taken out one' at a time by the judges of the election. If the 
ballot be a straight one, he shall announce that fact and name 
the ticket voted for thereon, and each clerk shall make one tally 
opposite the proper designation at the top of his tally-sheet. 
If the ballot be a mixed one, the judge shall announce the vote 
for each candidate on such ballot, and each clerk shall make 
an accurate tally of the same opposite the names of the candi- 
dates, on his tally-sheet. Void and blank ballots shall be an- 
nounced by the judge, and each clerk shall make one tally for 
each such ballot opposite the proper designation at the top of 
his tally-sheet. The same method shall be observed in respect 
to each ticket in the ballot-box until the number of tickets taken 



40 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

out of the ballot-box equals the number of names upon the poll- 
books. Allien the count is completed, the number of straight 
party votes for each candidate shall be entered in gross, in 
figures, opposite his name on each tally-sheet by each clerk, 
to which shall be added the number of votes received by each 
candidate on mixed tickets, and the sum thereof shall be written 
in the proper column on his tally-sheet by each clerk. That 
after the entire vote is canvassed the judges and clerk shall make 
three certificates of the vote cast for all candidates on the ballot, 
one to be returned with the ballot to the county clerk, who shall 
post the same in a conspicuous place in his office, one to the sec- 
retary of the party casting the highest number of votes at the 
last election, and one to the secretary of the party casting the 
next highest vote at the last election : but this shall not apply 
to township tickets. As soon as the count is completed, the 
clerk shall submit the result to the judges for inspection, and, if 
found correct, the result shall be publich^ announced by one 
of the judges. If requested during the canvass b}^ any candi- 
date or his representative, the judge shall exhibit any and all 
ballots counted to him, fully opened, and in such a condition 
that he ma}^ fully and carefull}^ read and examine the same, 
but they shall not allow any such ballot to be taken from their 
hands. In canvassing the votes, and in all election contests, 
the following rules, in addition to the other provisions of this 
act, shall be observed : One line crossing another hne at any 
angle within a circle or voting square shall be deemed a valid 
voting mark. When a voter has properly marked his ballot 
in the circle at the head cf the ticket, the marking of the names 
by a proper cress-mark in all or a part of the squares to the right 
of the names on the samie part}' ticket shall not prevent the count- 
ing of such ballot. Any ballot upon which there shall be found 
a cross-mark outside any circle or voting square, or upon which 
there shall be found an}^ other mark than the cross-mark used 
for the purpose of voting, or upon which there shall be found 
a cross-mark in two or more circles at the head of different tickets, 
or upon which a nam^e or names have been written otherwise 
than as heretofore provided, or any ballot which has been c'e- 
faced or torn by the voter, or from which there shall have been 
erased an}' de\dce, emblem, figure, letter, word, or any ballot 
which shall have been marked by or written upon with other 
than a pencil ha^-ing black lead, shall be wholly void, and no 



GENERAL ELECTIOX L.\WS. 41 

vote thereon shall be counted. T^Tienever a cross X mark shall 
be made in the square at the right of the name of more than one 
candidate for the same office, such vote shall not invaUdate the 
ballot, nor shall the same be counted for a'ny such candidate. 
Xo ballots other than those provided, printed and indorsed in 
accordance with the provisions of this act shall be delivered to 
a voter, deposited in the ballot-box, or counted. Ballots that 
are not counted shall be marked "blank'* or "void," as the case 
may be, on the backs thereof. Ballots that are counted (not- 
withstanding objections made thereto) shall be marked ''ob- 
jected to'' on the back thereof, and a memorandum stating how 
each such ballot was counted shall be written on the back thereof 
and be signed by the judges; and all ballots marked ''blank," 
"void*' or ''objected to" shall be inclosed in one envelope, se- 
curely sealed, and so marked and indorsed as to clearly disclose 
its contents. All ballots not used and all that have been spoiled 
by the voter while attempting to vote shall be returned by the 
judges of the election to the officer from Vviiom they were received, 
and a receipt taken therefor. Such officer shall keep a record of 
the number of ballots delivered for each polling-place, the name 
of the person to whom and the time when dehvered, and shall 
enter upon such record the number and character of the ballots 
returned, with the time when and the person by whom they are 
returned. ^AT.en counting the ballots, the judge of election 
who takes the ballots out of the ballot-boxes shall, after announc- 
ing the votes thereon, deliver the same to the second judge, who 
shall examine the same and pass it to the third judge, who shall 
fold and string closely upon a flexible vrire or cord all ballots 
which have been counted, except those marked "objected to," 
unite the ends of such wire or cord in a firm knot, seal the knot 
with sealing-wax in such a manner that it cannot be untied with- 
out breaking the seal, inclose the ballots as strung in an envelope, 
and securely seal such envelope with seahng-wax, in such a man- 
ner that it cannot be opened without breaking the seal, and shall 
I'eturn such ballots, together with the ballots contained in the 
envelope m.arked ''blank," ''void," and '^ objected to," to the 
officer from whom they were received. Such officer shall care- 
fully preserve all such ballots for six months, and at the expira- 
tion of that time shall destroy them by burning, without pre- 
viously opening any of said envelopes, in the presence of two 
electors of approved integrity and good repute, members of the 



42 GEXEFLIL ELECTION L_\WS. 

two leading political parties, said electors to be designated by the 
board of county commissioners : Provided. That if the election 
of any officer voted for at such election is being contested at the 
expiration of such time, said baUots shall not be destroyed until 
such contest is finally decided. In all cases of contested elec- 
tions, either of the parties contesting >hall have the right to have 
such ballots opened and to have all errors of the judges in coiuit- 
ing the ballots corrected by the coiu't or body trying such con- 
test : but such ballots shall be opened only in i:)pen comt or in 
an open session of such body and in the presence of the officer 
having the ctr^tody thereof. iG. S. 1909. § 3273.) 

§ 61. Penalty ior Electioneering. Xo person whatever shall 
do any electioneering or soliciting of votes on election day T\dthin 
any polling-place, or within one hundred feet of such polling- 
place. Xo person shall interrupt, hinder or oppose any voter 
while approacliing the polling-place for the piupose of A'oting. 
Whoever shall \dolate the provisions of tliis section shall tipon 
conviction be piuiished by a fine of not less than twenty-five 
dollars nor more than one himdred dollars, or by imprisonment 
in the county jail not less than ten days nor more than tliirty 
days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, for each and every 
offense. It shall be the duty of the judges of election to enforce 
the provisions of this section. ' G. S. 1909, § 3274.) 

§ 62. Marked or Identified Bcdiots. Any person who shall. 
except as herein otherv^dse provided, mark or fold his baUot so 
that it can be distingtiished. or allow his ballot to be seen by any 
person with an apparent intention of letting it be known how 
he is about to vote, or who shall make a false statement as to his 
ability to mark his ballot, or who shall interfere or attempt to 
interfere with any voter when inside said inclosed space or when 
marking his ballot, or who shall endeavor to induce any voter 
before voting to shoAv how he marks or has marked his ballot, 
or who shall place upon or induce any person to place upon his 
or any ballot any character or mark for the piu'pose of identify- 
ing said ballot, or any judge who in clipping the poll-list number 
from any ballot, or in affixing liis initials to any ballot, shall use 
any mark or means whereby any ballot may be identified, shall 
upon conviction be punished by a fine of not less than twenty- 
five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprison- 
ment in the count v iail not less than ten davs nor morp than 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 43 

thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment ; and it shall 
be the duty of election judges to enforce the provisions of this 
section. (G. S. 1909, § 3275.) 

§ 63. Destruction, Hindrance, etc. Any person who shall prior 
to any election willfully destroy or deface an}^ list of candidates 
posted in accordance with the provisions of this act, and who 
during an election shall willfully deface, tear down, remove or 
destroy any card of instruction or specimen ballot printed and 
posted for the instruction of voters, or who shall during the elec- 
tion willfully remove or destroy any of the supplies or conveni- 
ences furnished to enable voters to prepare their ballots, or shall 
willfully hinder the voting of others, shall upon conviction be 
punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars nor more than one 
hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail for not 
less than ten days nor more than thirty days, or by both such 
fine and imprisonment. (G. S. 1909, § 3276.) 

§ 64. Penalty for Irregularities. Any person who shall falsely 
make or willfully destroy any certificate of nomination or nomi- 
nation papers, or any part thereof, or any letter of withdrawal, 
or who shall file any certificate of nomination or nomination 
papers, knowing the same or any part thereof to be falsely made, 
or suppress any certificate of nomination or nomination papers 
or any part thereof which have been duly filed, or who shall forge 
or falsely make the official indorsement on any ballot, or who 
shall substitute therefor any spurious or counterfeit ballot, or 
who shall make, use, circulate, or cause to be made, used or circu- 
lated as an official ballot, or any paper printed in imitation or 
in resemblance 'thereof, or who shall willfully destroy or deface 
any ballot, or who shall willfully delay the delivery of any bal- 
lots, shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not less than 
one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by 
imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year nor 
more than five years, or bv both such fine and imprisonment. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3277.) 

§ 65. Failing to Perform Duty. Any public officer upon whom 
a duty is imposed by this act who shall willfully neglect to per- 
form such duties, or who shall willfully perform it in such way as 
to hinder the object of this act, or who shall disclose to any one 
except as may be ordered by any court of justice the contents of 
any ballot as to the manner in which the same ma}' have been 



44 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

voted, shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not less 
than fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by 
imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one year 
nor more than five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 
(G. S. 1909, §3278.) 

§ 66. Clerks and judges of election shall receive the follow- 
ing fees, and no more : At all elections when state, county, town- 
ship or city officers are voted for, and at all special elections, the 
sum of three dollars for the first two hundred votes or less, and an 
additional sum equal to one cent for each additional voter vot- 
ing. (G. S. 1909, §3280.) 

§ 67. Copies of Act, It shall be the duty of the attorney- 
general to prepare all necessary forms and instructions, includ- 
ing forms for tally-sheets, poll-books, returns, and certificates of 
nomination, to carry the provisions of this act into effect, and the 
secretary of state shall immediately have ten thousand copies of 
chapter 129 of the Session Laws of 1897, as amended by this act, 
printed in pamphlet form, together with the forms and instruc- 
tions prepared by the attorne^^-general, and distribute the same 
among the county clerks of the several counties of the state. 
(G. S. 1909, §3281.) 

§ 68. Hours of Voting. Hours of voting at all elections to 
which this act applies shall be opened at eight o'clock in the morn- 
ing and close at six o'clock, except in cities of the first class, which 
shall open at six o'clock in the morning and shall be closed at 
seven o'clock in the evening. (G. S. 1909, § 3282.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 45 

CHAPTER V. 
PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 

§ 69. Definitions. Unless inconsistent with the context, words 
and phj:-ases used in this act shall be defined and construed as 
follows : (1) The word ''primary/' the primary election provided 
for in this act ; (2) the word ''election/' a general election, as dis- 
tinguished from a primary election and applying to both city and 
general elections ; (3) the word "precinct," an election district 
estabhshed by law, within which all qualified electors vote 
at one polling-place; (4) the word "district," any poHtical 
subdivision of the state consisting of more than one county : 
Provided, That this term shall also extend and apply to the fol- 
lowing-named political di\dsions comprising one county, more or 
less : state senatorial district, state representative district, and 
state judicial district; (5) the word "sub-district," any political 
subdivision of the state consisting of less than one county, such as 
commissioner district or township ; (6) the words "city election," 
an election held for the election of officers in a city of 10,000 
population or more. (G. S. 1909, § 3289.) 

§ 70. Scope of Act. Hereafter all candidates for elective of- 
fices shall be nominated by : (1) A primary held in accordance 
with this act ; (2) independent nomination papers, signed and 
filed as provided by existing statutes ; (3) party candidates for 
the office of United States senator shall be nominated in the 
manner provided herein. This act shall not apply to special 
elections to fill vacancies, nor to annual or special school-district 
meetings for the election of school-district oflficers, nor to city 
elections where the population is less than 5000. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3290.) 

§ 71. Time of Holding Primary. The primary shall be held on 
the first Tuesday in August in 1908, and biennially thereafter, for 
the nomination of all candidates to be voted for at the next en- 
suing November election, and on the first Tuesday of March, 
1909, and annually thereafter, in all cities having 10,000 or more 
population, for all candidates to be voted for at the next ensuing 
city election : Provided , That in all cities of the first and second 
class in Kansas which have adopted, or may hereafter adopt, the 



46 CtEXEr_\l electiox" l,\ws. 

city commission form of city goveniment under chapter 114 of the 
Session Laws of 1907, and all acts amendatory- and supplemental 
thereto, the primary for all candidates to be voted for at the 
general city election of each odd-nimibered year shall be held 
on the second IMondav preceding the general municipal election. 
(G. S. 1909, §3291.^' 

§ 72. Xotice of Primo.ry. i 1 At least one huncked and twenty 
days before the time of holding the primary, the secretary of state 
shall prepare and transmit to each coimty clerk a notice in v^Titing 
designating the offices for which candidates are to be nominated 
at such primary. 2 ' Upon receipt of such notice each county 
clerk shall forthwith ptiblish so much thereof as may be apphcable 
to his county, one each week for three consecutive weeks, in the 
official comity paper. '3) The sheriff of each county shall, im- 
mediately after the pubhcation of such notice, cause a copy of such 
primary to be posted in three places in each precinct in his 
coimty : such notice so posted shall state the time when and the 
place where the primary will be held in each precinct therein, 
together with the offices for which candidates are to be nominated. 
(4) Each city clerk shall, in each year, at least forty-five days be- 
fore the time of hokhng the primary, pubksh in the official city 
paper,, once in each week for three consecutive weeks, a notice 
designating the city offices for which canchdates are to be nomi- 
nated at such primaiy, and shall also post such notice in three 
pubhc places in each election precinct in said city, such posting 
to be not more than twenty and not less than ten days before 
such primary. ( G. S. 1909^. § 3292. ■ 

§73. Preparatio?} of Xo'mination Papers. ■!> The name of no 
candidate shall be printed upon an official ballot used at any 
primary imless at least forty days prior to such primary a nomina- 
tion paper shall have been ffied in his behalf, as provided in this 
act, in substantially the following form : 

I, the undersigned, a qualified elector of the precinct of the township of 

(or. precincf of the ward of the city of ). county of and state 

of Kansas, and a member of the party, hereby nominate -. who resides 

in the township of (or, at Xo. on street, city of ), in the county 

of and state of Kansas, as a candidate for the office of 'here specify' the office) 

, to be voted for at the primarv- to be held on the first Tuesday of August, in 

(and in cities having a population of 5000 or more on the first Tuesday in starch), 

as representing the principles of said party; and I further declare that I intend to 
support the candidate herein named, and that I have not signed and will not sign 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 47 

any petition or nomination papers for any other person for said oflBce at the nert 
ensuing election. 

{Ueadirig in case of cities.) 
Names of signers. Name of city. Street No. Date of signing. 

Or. 

{Heading in case of townships.) 
Names of signers. Post office. Date of signing. 

(2) All nomination papers shall have substantially the fore- 
going form, written or printed at the top thereof. Xo signature 
shall be counted unless it is upon a sheet having such \^Titten or 
printed form at the top thereof. (3) Each signer of a nomina- 
tion paper shall sign but one such paper for the same office, and 
shall declare that he intends to support the candidate therein 
named, and shall add to his signatm^e his residence, if in a city of 
the first or second class, by street and number (if any) ; or, if in 
a township or city of the tbii'd class, by post office address. (4) 
All signers of each separate nomination paper shall reside in the 
same precinct. The affidavit of a quahfied elector shall be ap- 
pended to each such nomination paper, stating that to the best of 
his knowledge and behef, all the signers thereof are electors of that 
precinct : that he knows that they signed the same with full 
knowledge of the contents thereof : that their respective resi- 
dences are correctly stated therein : that each signer signed the 
same on the date stated opposite his name, and that the affiant 
intends to support the candidate therein named. Such affidavit 
shall not be made by the candidate, and shall be prima facie 
e\'idence of the fact therein stated. (5) Such nomination papers 
shall be signed : (a) If for a state office for for the office of United 
States senator ) by at least one per cent of the voters of the party 
of such candidate in at least each of ten counties in the state, and 
in the aggi'egate not less than one per cent nor more than ten per 
cent of the total vote of his party in the state, or by at least one 
per cent of the total vote of his party in each of twenty counties. 
(6) If for a district office, by at least two per cent of the voters of 
the party designated in at least one-tenth of the election precincts 
in each of at least one-half of the counties of the district, and in the 
aggregate not less than two per cent nor more than ten per cent 
of the total vote of the party designated in such district, (c) If 
for sub-district office or for a county office, by at least three per 
cent of the party vote in at least one-fourth of the election pre- 



48 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

cincts of such sub-district or county, and in the aggregate not less 
than three per cent nor more than ten per cent of the total vote 
of the party designated in such sub-district or county, {d) If 
for a county precinct committeeman, by at least ten per cent of 
the part}^ vote in such precinct. The basis of percentage in each 
case shall be the vote of the party for secretary of state at the last 
preceding state election. But any political organization which at 
the last preceding general election was represented on the official 
ballot may, upon complying with the provisions of this act, have 
a separate primary election ticket as a political party if any of its 
candidates received one per cent of the total vote cast at the last 
preceding general election in the state or subdivision thereof in 
which the candidate seeks nomination. Whenever a petition 
signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least two per 
cent of the votes cast for the several candidates for secretary of 
state at the last preceding November election in at least each of 
ten counties of the state, and in the aggregate not less than two 
per cent nor more than ten per cent of such total vote cast at said 
election, and certified to as genuine by the affidavit of ten well- 
known, reputable, qualified electors of the state, asking that the 
signers thereof be recognized as a new political party, and be 
represented by a separate party ticket at the next ensuing 
primary, and naming candidates for at least a majority of the 
state offices to be filled at the next ensuing election, and specify- 
ing the name and symbol, or emblem, of such new party, the 
secretary of state shall certify the name, symbol, or emblem, and 
the list of candidates so specified to the various county clerks of 
the state. Upon the receipt of such certification, the respective 
county clerks shall prepare a separate party ticket for such new 
party in their respective counties and subdivisions thereof, in the 
same manner as is provided by this act for existing parties. 
Thereupon the electors may place in nomination a county ticket, 
according to the provisions of this act, so far as the same are 
applicable : Provided, That the nomination papers for each 
county or sub-district office shall be signed by not less than three 
per cent nor more than ten per cent of the total vote of such county 
at the preceding November election for the several candidates 
for county clerk, distributed throughout at least one-fourth the 
election precincts of such sub-district or county : Provided further, 
That not more than one-fourth of such signers shall be electors 
of any one ward or township : And provided further, That the 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 49 

petition to the secretary of state herein provided for shall be filed 
not less than one hundred and twenty days and not more than one 
hundred and thirty days preceding the primary. (6) (a) Nomina- 
tion papers for a candidate for a city office, except for a member 
of the council, shall be signed by at least five per cent of the party 
vote in each of at least one-fourth of the election precincts of the 
city, and in the aggregate not less than five per cent nor more 
than ten per cent of the total vote of the party designated in such 
city, (b) Nomination papers for a candidate for the office of 
councilman shall be signed by at least five per cent of the party 
vote in each of at least one-half of the election precincts in the 
ward which he seeks to represent, and in the aggregate not less 
than five per cent nor more than ten per cent of the total vote of 
the party designated in such ward, (c) Nomination papers for a 
candidate for the office of precinct committeeman shall be signed 
by at least ten per cent of the total vote of the party designated 
in such precinct. (G. S. 1909, § 3293.) 

§ 74. Filing of Nomination Papers. All nomination papers 
shall be filed as follows : (1) For state officers. United States 
senator, representatives in congress, state senators, state repre- 
sentatives, and all district officers, in the office of the secretary of 
state : Provided, That when the district is composed of one county 
or less, such nomination papers shall be filed with the county clerk 
of such county. (2) For county officers, sub-district officers, and 
county and precinct committeeman, in the office of the county 
clerk. (3) For city officers and city precinct committeemen, in 
the office of the city clerk. (4) When nomination papers shall 
be fi ed which contain ten per cent of the total vote, as limited 
in subdivisions a, b, c, and d of clause 5, and subdivisions a, h, 
and c of clause 6 of section 5* of this act, the clerk with whom such 
papers are required to be filed shall not receive or file further 
nomination papers for the candidate named therein. (G. S. 
1909, §3294.) 

§ 75. Publishing Names of Candidates. (1) The state board 
of canvassers shall meet in the office of the secretary of state on 
the first Monday following the expiration of time for the filing 
of nomination papers in the office of secretary of state, and shall 
proceed to examine all nomination papers so filed, determine 
whether such nomination papers comply with all the requirements 

* Preceding section of this work. 



50 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

of this act, and shall make out and certify to the secretary of state 
a list containing the name and postofhce address of each person 
for whom nomination papers have been filed in the office of the 
secretar}^ of state, together with the designation of the office for 
which each is a candidate and the party or principles of the office 
which he represents, certifying that such nomination papers in 
each case are regular and in strict compliance with the provisions 
of this act. Thereupon the secretary of state shall, at least thirty 
da^'s before the primary of the year 1908, and of each alternate 
year thereafter, transmit to each count}^ clerk a certified copy of 
the fist so certified to him by the state board of canvassers. (2) 
Such clerk shall forthwith, upon receipt thereof, publish for three 
consecutive weeks, in the official county paper, a notice which shall 
set forth, under the proper party designation, the title to each 
office, the names and addresses of all persons specified in said 
notice from the secretary of state, and in addition thereto the 
names and addresses of all persons for whom nomination papers 
have been filed in the county clerk's office, in compliance with 
subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 6 of this act, giving the name and 
address of each, the date of the primar}^, the hours during which 
the polls will be opened, and stating that the primary will be held 
at the regular polling-place in each precinct. (3) Such clerk shall 
also forthwith mail copies of such notice, so published, to each 
township and city clerk of his county, who shall immediately post 
copies of the same in at least three public places in each precinct 
in his township or city, designating therein the location of the 
polling-booth in each election precinct. (4) At least twenty-five 
days preceding the primary in each 3^ear the city clerk shall publish 
once each week for three consecutive weeks in the official city 
paper a notice which shall set forth, under the proper party desig- 
nation, the title of each office, the names and addresses of all per- 
sons for whom nomination papers have been filed in the city clerk's 
office, in compliance with subdivision 3 of section 6* of this act, 
and shall immediately post copies of the same in at least three 
public places in each precinct in his city, designating therein the 
location of the polhng-place in each election precinct. (G. S. 
1909, §3295.) 

§ 76. Official Ballot. A separate official primary ticket for 
each pohtical party shall be printed and provided for use at each 

* Section 74 of thU book. 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 51 

voting precinct, in the form provided herein and annexed hereto. 
The names of all candidates of each poHtical party for whom the 
nomination papers prescribed shall have been duly filed shall be 
printed upon the ticket thus provided for that part^^ In other 
respects the form of the ticket shall comply with the provisions of 
chapter 222 of the Laws of 1905, and any amendments now or 
hereafter made thereto, so far as the same may be applicable and 
are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3296.) 

§ 77. Preparation and Dutrihution of Tickets. (1) The county 
clerk shall, at least two weeks before the primary, mail to each 
person whose nomination petitions are on file in his office, to the 
address given in the petition, a cop}^ of the first issue of the 
county paper containing the names and addresses of those whose 
names will be printed on the primary ballot, and it shall not be 
necessary to print the sample ballots heretofore required twent}^ 
days before the primary, nor send such sample ballots to the 
candidates. (2) The chairman of each party shall, on or before 
the eleventh day preceding such primary, suggest to the count}' 
clerk or to the city clerk, as the case ma}^ be, any changes that he 
may consider should be made in his part}^ ticket, and if upon 
examination the clerk shall find any error or omission in said 
ticket, he shall correct the ticket and cause the same to be printed 
and distributed as required b}^ law in the case of ballots for the 
general election, except that the number of tickets of each partj^ 
to be furnished to each precinct shall be twice the number of 
votes cast thereat for the candidates receiving the highest number 
of votes by the respective parties in the last preceding general 
election : And -provided, That in case nomination petitions are 
filed by a new party, the number of ballots provided shall be 
twice the number of votes the county- clerk estimates such part}' 
will cast. (G. S. 1909, § 3297.) 

§ 78. Determining Location of Name on Ballot. In case there 
are nomination papers on file for more than one candidate for any 
state or district office, of the different parties, the secretary of 
state shall divide the state or district, as the case may be, into as 
many divisions as there may be names to go on each party ticket 
for any particular office. Such division shall be as near equal in 
votes as ma}^ be convenient without dividing any one county, and 
in making such division the secretary of state shall take the 



52 CtEXER-\l electiox laws. 

alphabetical list of counties in regular order until he gets the re- 
ciuired proportion of votes cast at the last general election, and so 
on through the list of counties until he gets the proper proportion, 
and the secretary of state in certifying to the county clerk his 
hst of names for whom nomination papers have been filed shall 
place one namie at the head of the Hst in the first division of 
counties, another name in the second division, and so on "^ith all 
the candidates for any paiticular office, so that every candidate 
for any office shall be at the head of the hst in one ch^ision of the 
state and second in another cUvisiou thereof. The arrangement 
of the names certffied by the secretary of state shall govern the 
county clerk in arranging the prim'ary ballot, and the county 
clerk in preparing the ballot for liis county shall follow the same 
arrangement as provided in this section for the secretary of state, 
for the candidate nominated for coimty office, using the townships 
and precincts of the countv in making: his cU\dsion. I'G. S. 1909, 
§ 329S. • 

§ 79. Heoxling of Ballot. The official primary ticket shall have 
the following heading : 

OFFICIAL PEIMAP.T BALLOT. 

General Election . 
(Emblem of party.) 

party. 

To vote for a person whose name is printed on the ticket, make a cross X in 
the .square at the right of the name of the persDn for whom you desire to vote. 

To vote for a person whose name is not printed on the ticket, write his name in 
the blank space provided for that purpose and mark a cross X in the square to the 
right. 

This shall be followed by the namies of the persons for whom 
nomination papers have been filed and in the order of offices 
as follows : but after the name of each office, however, there shall 
be a statement of the nimiber of candidates to vote for, for that 
partictilar office : State. — Presidential electors, justices of supreme 
court, governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, state 
auditor, state treasurer, attorney-general, superintendent of pubhc 
instruction, superintendent of insiu^ance. state printer, railroad 
commissioners, member from congressional district. Dis- 
trict. — District judge, senator from cUstrict, representative 

from district. County. — Clerk, treasurer, register of deeds, 

county attorney, probate judge, sheriff, coroner, superintendent 
of public instruction, surveyor, clerk of cHstrict court, commiis- 

sioner district. Toir/iship. — Judge of the city court, marshal 

of city court, justice of the peace, constable, trustee, clerk, treas- 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 53 

urer. And in city elections the ballot shall have the same head- 
ing, with the offices in the following order : ]\Iayor, attorney, 
clerk, treasurer, pohce judge, judge of the city court, clerk of the 
city court, marshal of the cit}^ court, councilmen for ward, and 
member of school board. Other offices for which nomination 
petitions are on ffie not herein mentioned shall be inserted in the 
proper place, with a statement of the number to be nominated. 
And the following indorsement shall be printed on the back of 
the said ticket : 

OFFICIAL PRIMARY STATEMENT. 

party. 

precinct, ward or to-^-nship. City or township, August , 19— 



Clerks. 
We certify the within ticket was marked by us for an elector incapable under 
the law of marking his ovra ticket, and as directed bv him. 



Judges. 
We certify the within ticket was marked by us for a blind elector, at his request, 
and as directed bv him. 



- To the right of each name there shall be printed a square, as 
pro\dded in the general election law. Said primary ballots may 
be printed in one or more cohunns, as may be most convenient. 
No name shall be printed on said primary ticket except those 
certified b}' the secretary of state, county clerk or city clerk, 
as the case may be, and no blank line shall be printed following 
any office unless there are no nomination papers on file. And in 
case there are no nomination papers on file for any particular 
office there shall be no reference of any kind to that office in the 
list of names of candidates to be published. Xo person shall 
receive the nomination nor have liis name printed on the general 
ballot in any case where no nomination papers have been filed, 
unless he shall receive at least votes equal in number to five per 
cent of the total party vote of his part}^ cast for secretar}^ of state 
in such state, countv, district or citv at the last general election. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3299.) 

§ 80. Conduct of Pr if nary. (1) The j^ro visions of existing 
statutes concerning elections and any amendment now or here- 
after made thereto, so far as they are not incon.sistent with the 
provisions of this act, shall appl}- to the primaries provided for 
in this act, and the following statutes shall apply to the subjects 



54 GEXER.\L ELECTION L.\WS. 

indicated, the intent of this act being to place the primary under 
the regulation? and protection of the lay\-s in force as to elections : 
As to composition of boards of prmiary. section 8. chapter 177. 
Laws of 1901, being paragraph 2712, General Statutes 1901. and 
section 15, chapter 122, Laws of 1903 ; as to time of opening and 
closing polls, chapter 231. Laws of 1903 ; as to printing and dis- 
tributing tickets, chapter 229. Laws of 1903 : as to preparing, 
posting and supplying instructions to voters : as to pro\dding 
voting-places, booths and supplies, and the care, disposition and 
arrangement of the same, and as to entitling an employe to absent 
himself from his emplo^inent for the purpose of voting, chapter 
129, Laws of 1897, being paragraphs 2710. 2711. 2713, 2717. 
General Statutes of 1901 : as to form and marking of ticket, 
manner of voting, and disposition of tickets, and canvass of votes 
by primary board, chapter 222. Laws of 1905 : as to registration 
of voters, chapter 17a. General Statutes of 1901 as amended by 
chapter 103. Lavrs of 1905 ; as to exercismg challenges and pro- 
cedure thereafter, and determining residence and quahfication 
of voters, sections 9. 10. 11. 12 and 13. chapter 36. Laws of 1868. 
being paragraphs 2572, 2573. 2574, 2575, 2576. General vStatutes 
of 1901. and also chapter 232, Laws of 1903 : as to compensation 
of primary officers, section 14, chapter 177. Laws of 1901 ; as to 
county canvass of returns, cliapter 36. Laws of 1868, being para- 
graphs 2587, 2588, 2589, 2590, 2591, 2592, General Statutes of 
1901 ; as to state canva-s of returns, chapter 36, Laws of 1868, be- 
ing paragraphs 2593, 2594. 2595. 2596, 2597 and 2598. Greneral 
Statutes of 1901 ; as to city canvass of returns for city primar3% 
section 18, chapter 122, Laws of 1903 ; as to contests, article 6. 
chapter 36, and paragraph 830. General Statutes of 1901 : Pro- 
vided, That all the powers and duties conferred and imposed by the 
laws of this state upon comimissioners of elections, registration 
officers, judges and clerks of election, canvassing boards and all 
otlier public officials in connection with general elections are in 
every detail and particular conferred and imposed upon each and 
all such officers in connection with the primary elections conducted 
under the provisions of this act. 2) At all primaries there shall 
be provided a separate ticket for each party entitled to participate 
in the primary, and also a blank ticket on wliich shah be printed 
only the titles of the officers to be voted for by the electors at the 
polling-place for wliich the ticket is printed. Each party ticket 
shall be designated by the party device or emblem appearing at 



GENERAL ELECTION KWVS. 00 

the head thereof, below which shall appear the name of the party. 
The names of all party candidates shall be arranged alphabetically 
according to surnames under the appropriate title of the respective 
offices, and under the proper party designation upon the party 
ticket. If an}^ elector \^Tite upon his ticket the name of any 
person who is a candidate for any office upon some other ticket 
than that upon which his name is so written, such elector shall 
thereby invalidate his ticket and it shall not be counted, but shall 
be entirely rejected. In case a person is nominated on more than 
one ticket, he shall forthwith file with the proper officer or officers in 
charge of the preparation of the election ballots a written declara- 
tion indicating the party designation under which his name is to be 
printed on the official election ballot. The ticket with the in- 
dorsements shall be in substantiall}^ the form heretofore annexed : 
Provided, That tickets for any city primary may be varied as to 
the title of the officers to be printed thereon, so as to conform to 
the law under which each such primar}' is held. The provisions 
of section 1, chapter 222, Laws of 1905, and any amendments now 
or hereafter made thereto, so far as the same shall be applicable, 
shall govern in the preparation of the ticket. f3) Any person 
desiring to vote in a primary in precincts where registration is 
required, shall give his name and residence to the judges of the 
primary, one of whom shall thereupon announce the same in a 
loud and distinct tone of voice, and if such name be found upon 
the registry of voters by the officer having charge thereof, he shall 
likewise repeat said name, and the voter shall be allowed to enter 
the space inclosed by the guard-rail, as provided in subdivision 1 
of this section. An}- person desiring to vote in any township or 
precinct outside* of cities of the first or second class shall give his 
name before entering the inclosed space : the clerk shall there- 
upon place his name and number upon the poll-list. 'WTiereupon 
the voter shall announce the name of the political party for which 
he desires to vote, and one of the judges designated b}' the primary 
board shall give the voter one and only one ticket of such part}' to 
be cast at such primary, in the upper right-hand corner of which 
he shall have inscribed, with pen and ink, the number correspond- 
ing with the voter's number upon the poll-list, and the voter's 
name shall be innnediately checked on the registry list. At all 
primaries where registration is required, if the name of any person 
desiring to vote at such primary be not found on the registry of 
voters, he shall not receive a ticket. If any person desiring to 



56 GEXER-\L ELECTIOX L-\WS. 

vote at any primary shall be challenged, he shall not receive a 
ticket until he shall have established liis right to vote in the 
manner provided by lav. but during the pendency of sucli chal- 
lenge other voters shall be given tickets and be permitted to vote. 
(4) This section shall govern, where applicable, all persons desir- 
ing to vote in townships and precincts where registration is not 
required. In all cases the voter's number on the poll-list shall be 
marked upon his ticket before he receives it. and shall be clipped 
therefrom before being deposited in the ballot-box. unless such 
voter shall have been challenged. G. S. 1909, § 3300. 

§81. Registration and Voting. 1 Xo person shall be entitled 
to vote at any primary unless he is a quahfied elector of the pre- 
cinct, and duly registered therein, if registration thereat be re- 
quired by law. 2 The provisions as to registration reqimed by 
existing statutes, and by any amendment now or hereafter made 
thereto, shall apply to all primaries held under the provisions of 
this act. 3 If registration be not reciimed as a concUtion prece- 
dent, any person who will be a ciuahfied elector of the predict 
by reason of age at the ensuing election for wliich the primary is 
held shall be permitted to vote at such primary. G. >. 1909. 
§3301.^ 

§ 82. Challtnges. The precinct conmiitteeman of each pre- 
cinct may appoint in writing, over his signature, two party agents 
or representatives, with an alternate for each, who shall act as 
challengers for theu^ respective parties and have the powers pre- 
scribed by section 10"^ of tliis act. The right of any person to vote 
at a primary may be challenged by any elector tipon the same 
grormd and his right to vote be deternuned in the same manner as 
at an election, except as otherwise provided herein : Provided, 
That if the person offering his vote be challenged as unquahned 
on the groimd that he is not a member of the party announced 
by himself, he shall make and subscribe an afiidavit in the follow- 
ing form, which shall be presented to and retained by the primary 
judges and clerks, and retiu^ned by them with the registry poU- 
books : 

State of Ka^'sas. Cou:s-tt of . ss. 

I, , do solemnly swear • or affirm) that I will be more than twenty-one years 

of age at the next general election, and will be qualified to vote under and by ^-irtue 
of the constitution and the laws of the state of Kansas, and I expect to be a legally 
qualified voter at this precinct and election district ; that I now reside at .in- 

♦Anfe, section SO. 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 57 

sert street and number, if any) in this precinct, and am a member of and am affili- 
ated with the party ; that I have not signed the petition of a member of any 

other party who is seeking a nomination at this primary election ; and that I have 
not signed the nominating petition of an independent candidate for any office for 
which candidates are to voted for at this primary election. 

Subscribed and sworn to before me, this day of , A. D. 19 — . 

■ ; Judge of Election. 

The precinct committeeman of each party may represent such 
party at the polhng-booth during the canvass and return of a vote 
at a primary election, or he may appoint, in writing, an agent, 
who shall be a member of his party and a resident elector of his 
precinct, for that purpose. (G. S. 1909, §3302.) 

§ 83. Canvass of Votes and Returns. (1) The canvass of votes 
cast shall, except as herein otherwise provided, be made in the 
same manner and b}^ the same officers as the canvass of an elec- 
tion. The precinct party committeeman in a precinct canvass, 
the chairman of the county committee in a county canvass, the 
state party chairman in a state canvass, or some member of the 
party, duly appointed in writing by his respective chairman or 
committeeman to represent each party, or an}^ candidates, shall 
be allowed to be present and observe the proceedings. (2) The 
precinct board of primary shall, on separate sheets, on blanks to 
be provided for that purpose, make full and accurate returns of 
the votes cast for each candidate, and shall, within twenty-four 
hours after this canvass, cause such returns to be delivered to the 
county clerk or to the cit}^ clerk, as the case may be. (3) The 
county canvass of the returns of a primary shall be made by the 
same officers and in the same manner provided in sec. 10* of this 
act. The canvassers shall meet and canvass such returns at ten 
o'clock A. iM. on the Friday following the primary. Their returns 
shall contain the whole number of votes cast for each candidate of 
each political party, and a duplicate as to each political party shall 
be delivered to the chairman of the county committee of such 
party. (4) The county canvassers shall also make an additional 
duplicate return, in the same form as provided in subdivision 3, 
showing the votes cast for eaph candidate not voted for wholly 
within the limits of the county. The count}^ clerk shall forthwith 
send to the secretary of state, by registered mail, one complete 
copy of all returns as to such candidates. (5) The city canvass 
of the returns of a primary shall be made by the cit^^ council, by 
the same officers and in the manner provided in section 10* of this 

* Section 80, this manual. 



58 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

act ; and the provisions of said section 10, for the purposes of this 
act, are hereby extended to all city primaries provided for by this 
act. The canvassers shall meet and canvass such returns at ten 
o^clock A. M. on the Friday following the primary. Their returns 
shall contain the whole number of votes cast for each candidate 
of each political party, and a duplicate as to each political party 
shall be delivered to the city chairman of such party. (6) The 
respective canvassing boards provided for in this section, and in 
section 14* of this act, shall name the person receiving the highest 
number of votes cast upon the blank ticket for each office as the 
non-partisan nominee for such office. (G. S. 1909, § 3303.) 

§ 84. State Board of Canvassers. (1) The state board of can- 
vassers provided to canvass the returns of a November election 
shall constitute the state board of canvassers of the primaries 
held under the provisions of this act, and all the provisions of 
section 10 of this act, and of all existing statutes and any amend- 
ments now or hereafter made thereto, relating to the canvass of the 
return of the November election, shall, as far as applicable, apply 
to the canvass, return and certification to the secretary of state 
of such primary. Such board shall meet at the office of the sec- 
retary of state at ten o'clock a. m. on the third Tuesday of Au- 
gust, 1908, and biennially thereafter. (2) As soon as the state 
canvass of a primary shall be completed, the secretary of state 
shall publish in the official state paper a certified statement of 
the result of such primary as to candidates for state officers, 
United States senator, representatives in congress, state sena- 
tors and state representatives, and all candidates whose dis- 
tricts extend beyond the limits of a single county ; and shall 
mail to the chairman of the state central committee of each party 
so much of such certificate as relates to his party, which certifi- 
cate shall show, in relation to candidates for United States 
senator, the party vote for each candidate in each representative 
and each senatorial district, — it being the purpose and intention 
of this provision, so far as the same is within the power of the 
legislature so to do, to give all electors of the state of Kansas 
the right to express their party choice for United States senator, 
and to direct that the same be carried out by their party mem- 
bers of the legislature of the state. (3) Within thirty days 
aft«r the completion of such state canvass, the secretary of state 

* Rfcfers to section 84, on this page. 



GEXER.\L ELECTION L.\WS. 59 

shall certify to the county clerk of each county within which 
any of the electors may vote for the candidates for such offices, 
the name of each person nominated and the office for which he 
is nominated as specified in the nomination papers. (G. S. 
1909, §3304.) 

§ 85. Official Party Candidates. (1) The person receiving the 
greatest number of votes at a primary as the candidate of a 
party for any office other than United States senator shall be 
the candidate of that party for such office, and his name as such 
candidate shall be placed upon the official ballot at the ensuing 
election for which such primary is held. (2) In case of a tie 
vote, the respective boards of canvassers provided for by this 
act shall forthwith determine said tie by lot. (3) The candi- 
date for United States senator receiving the highest number of 
votes of his party in the greatest number of representative and 
senatorial districts of the state shall be declared by the state 
board of canvassers the nominee of such political party for 
United States senator. (G. S. 1909, §3305.' 

§ 86. Vacancies, Hon: Filled. Vacancies occurring after the 
holding of any primary shall be filled by the party committee 
of the city, subdistrict, countv. or state, as the case may be. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3306.) 

§ 87. Party Organization and Government. The organization 
and government of each of the several political parties shall be 
as follows : (1) At the primaries hereinbefore provided for, the 
members of a party residing in each precinct in each of the sev- 
eral counties of the state shall choose one of their number as 
''county precinct' committeeman.'' (2) The whole number of 
count}' precinct committeemen of each of the several political 
parties shall constitute the cotmty committee of such party ; 
such county comnfittee shall be organized by electing from its 
own membership a chairman, secretary and treasurer, of which 
offices the last two may be filled by the same person. (3) The 
chairman of the county committee shall be ex officio a member 
of the state committee and of each of the several part}^ committees 
of the district within which his county is situated. (4) Where 
a judicial, senatorial or representative district comprises but one 
county or less, the county committee of such county shall con- 
stitute such judicial, senatorial or representative district com- 
mittee. (5) The district party committee for each district 



60 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

greater than a county shall be composed of the county chairman 
of the several county committees hereinbefore provided for, and 
one additional member, to be chosen by each of the several party 
county committees in the district, for each one thousand votes 
or major fraction thereof in excess of fifteen hundred votes cast 
by the party at the primar}^ at which the said county committee 
was chosen. Such district part}^ committee shall organize by 
electing from its own membership a chairman, secretary and 
treasurer, of which offices the last two may be filled by the same 
person. (6) The state party committee shall organize by elect- 
ing from its own membership a chairman, secretary and treas- 
urer. The executive committee of such state committee shall 
consist of the chairmen of the various congressional district com- 
mittees, of which the state chairman shall be ex officio chairman. 
(7) The city party committee shall be composed of the city 
precinct committeemen chosen at the annual primary, and shall 
organize by electing from its ot\ti membership a chairman, sec- 
retary and treasurer. (8) The official returns made by the 
primary board shall show the name and address, and the name 
of the party represented, and of each precinct committeeman 
chosen. (9) Each committee provided for in this section, and 
its officers, shall have the powers usually exercised by such com- 
mittees and by the officers thereof, in so far as is consistent with 
this act. The various officers and committees now in existence 
shall exercise the powers and perform the duties herein prescribed 
until their successors are chosen in accordance T\'ith this act. The 
duties of the chairman or secretar^^ of any committee, when the 
committee is not in session, may be performed by members of such 
committee selected by such chairman or secretary. Am^ va- 
cancy in any committee office shall be ffiled in the same man- 
ner as that in which such officer was originally chosen. (10) 
The candidates for the various state offices, for United States 
senator, for members of the national house of representatives, 
for the state senate, and for the state house of representatives, 
nominated by each political party at each primarj^, the national 
committeeman, the United States senators and the state senators 
of such political party whose term of office extends beyond 
January of the year next ensuing, and the chairman of the county 
committee of the several counties of the state, shall constitute 
the party council of each part}^ and shall meet at the capital, 
at twelve o'clock noon, on the last Tuesday of August after the 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 61 

date on which any primary is held preliminary to any general 
election. The membership of such party council shall be deter- 
mined by the list of party nominees and party candidates duly 
certified by the secretary of state as on file in his office. Such party 
council shall be called to order by the secretary of state, or by 
one of his assistants,, who shall read the roll of members ; and 
thereupon the party council shall organize by electirg from its 
own membership a chairman and secretary. They shall there- 
upon forthwith formulate the state platform of their part}^, 
choose or alter the party emblem, and shall perform such other 
business as may properly be brought before such a meeting. 
The platform of each party shall be framed and made public 
at a time not later than six o'clock in the afternoon of the day 
following their adjournment. The state party council so con- 
stituted shall be the party council for two years, and shall have 
power to call special meetings and perform such other business 
as may be consistent with the provisions of this act : Provided, 
That no member of such council shall be represented bv proxv. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3307.) 

§ 88. Preparution of Blanks. It shall be the duty of the secre- 
tary of state and attorney-general, on or before March 1, 1908, 
to prepare all forms necessary to carry out the provisions of this 
act, which forms shall be substantially followed in all primaries 
held in pursuance hereof. Such forms shall be printed, with 
copies of this act, for pubUc use and distribution. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3308.) 

§ 89. Payment of Expenses. All tickets, blanks and other sup- 
plies to be used At any primary, and all expenses necessarih' 
incurred in the preparation for or conducting such primary, 
shall be paid out of the treasury of the city, county, or state, as 
the case may be, in the same manner, with like effect, and by 
the same officers, as in the case of elections. The cost, printing 
and distribution of the tickets shall be under the charge and con- 
trol of the same officers and official bodies as are prescribed for 
general election and for city elections by existing statutes, and 
amendments now or hereafter made thereto, in so far as the same 
are applicable to and not inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act. (G. S. 1909, §3309.) 

§ 90. Penal Provisions. (1) Any person who shall offer, or 
with knowledge of the same, permit any person to offer for bis 



62 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

benefit, any bribe to a voter to indnce him to sign any nomi- 
nation paper, and any person who shall accept any such bribe 
or premise of gain of any kind in the natm'e of a bribe, as con- 
sideration fcr signing the same, whether such bribe or promise 
of gain in the natm^e of a bribe be offered or accepted before or 
after such signing : or any candidate who shall knowingly cause 
a nomination paper or papers to be signed in his behah by more 
than the maximum number of ciualified electors provided for 
his district by subdi\'isions 5 and 6. section 5* of this act, shall 
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon trial and conviction thereof 
be pimished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than five 
himdred dollars, and by imprisonment in the county jail not less 
than ten days nor more than six months. 2 Any person who 
shall forge any name to a nomination paper shall be deemed 
guilty of forgeiy in the fourth degree, and on conviction thereof 
be pimished accordingly. Any person who.. being in possession 
of nomination papers entitled to be filed under this act. shall 
wrongfully either suppress, neglect or fail to cause the same to 
be filed at the proper time in the proper office, shall upon con- 
viction be punished by imprisonment in the coimty jail not to 
exceed six months, and by a fine of not to exceed six himdred 
dollars. 3' Any act declared an offense by the general laws 
of this state conceiTiing elections shall also in like case be an 
offense in all primaries, and shall be punished in the same form 
and manner as therein provided, and all the penalties and pro- 
visions of the law as to such elections, except as herein other- 
wise provided, shall apply in such case with equal force and to the 
same extent as though fully set fonh in this act. 4 Xo spirit- 
uous, malt, vinous or intoxicating hciuor shall be sold or given 
away on the date of holding a primarv* election. Whoever vio- 
lates the provisions of this subchvision -i of this section shall upon 
conviction be fined a sum not less than fifty nor more than one 
himdred dollars. It shall be the duty of the sheriff', coroner, 
constable and other peace officers of the county and city to see 
that the provisions of this section are strictly enforced, i'o) If 
any person whose vote is challenged or any v.itness sworn under 
the provisions of this act. shall knowingly. willfiiQy and corruptly 
swear falsely, he shall be deemed guilty of perim^'. and on con- 
viction thereof shall be punished accordingly. 6 T^lioever 
votes more than once at any primary, or offers to vote after 

'Tru5 work, section 7.1 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 63 

having once voted at such primary^ shall on con\'iction be fined 
in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisoned in 
the county jail not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion 
of the court. (7) Whoever willfully aids or abets anyone not 
legally quahfied to vote at a primary in voting or attempting 
to vote at such primary ; or, second, furnishes an elector with 
a ticket, informing him that it contains a name different than 
that which appears thereon, with intent to induce him to vote 
contrary to his inclinations ; or, third, changes the ticket of an 
elector, \\ith intent to deprive such elector of voting for such 
person as he intended ; or, fourth, by unlawful means prevents 
or attempts to prevent any voter from voting or from attending 
a primary ; or, fifth, gives or offers to give any valuable thing 
or bribe to any judge or clerk of primary, as a consideration for 
some act to be done contrary to his official duty in relation to 
such primary, shall upon conviction thereof be fined in a sum not 
.exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail 
not exceeding one year, or both, in the discretion of the court. 
And any judge or clerk who shall receive, request or demand any 
bribe or reward forbidden by this act, shall upon conviction be 
liable to the same penalties as are provided in this act for the 
giving or offering to give such bribe or reward. (8) Any per- 
son who shall solicit, request, demand or receive, directly or in- 
directly, any money, intoxicating hquor, or any other thing of 
value, or the promise thereof, either to infiuence his vote or to 
be used or under the pretense of being used to procure the vote 
of any person or persons, or to be used at any poll or other place 
prior to or on the day of a primary, for or against any candi- 
date for nomination at such primary, shall be deemed guilty 
of the crime of bribery, and upon conviction in any court of 
record shall be subject to a fine of not more than five hundred 
dollars and imprisonment in the county jail not less than three 
months nor more than one year, and to pay the costs of prose- 
cution and stand committed to the county jail until such costs 
are fully paid. (9) Any candidate or other person pacing, 
furnishing, or promising to pay or furnish, or bribing any per- 
son with money, intoxicating liquor, or anything of value, or 
the promise thereof, shall be deemed guilty of the crime of 
bribery, and upon conviction thereof in any court of competent 
jurisdiction shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor 
more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned in the county 



64 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

jail not less than three months nor more than one year, and pay 
the costs of prosecution and stand committed to the county 
jail until such costs are fully paid. Prosecutions may be had 
under this section by indictment in the district court or by in- 
formation therein. (10) Any person who shall engage in dis- 
orderly conduct at any primary shall be deemed guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of 
not less than ten dollars nor more than twenty-five dollars, and 
the costs of the prosecution. (11) Whoever bets or wagers any 
money, property or other valuable thing upon the result of a 
primar}^ held under the provisions of this act, or bets or wagers 
money, propert}^ or other thing of value upon the number of 
votes which may be given to any person at a primary, or upon 
whom shall receive the greatest number of votes at a primary, 
or agrees to pay any other person an}' money, property or other 
thing of value in event that a primary shall result in one way, or 
in the event that any person shall or shall not be elected or nomi- 
nated at any primary, or shall receive a greater number of votes 
than others, upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not 
less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dol- 
lars or be imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding one year, 
or both, in the discretion of the court. (12) If any judge of a 
primary shall, without the proof required in this act, permit a 
person to vote whose vote is challenged ; or, second, shall know- 
ingly and willfulh' permit a person to testify as a wdtness contrary 
to the provisions of this act ; or, third, shall knowingly permit 
a person to vote who is not qualified ; or, fourth, shall knowingly 
receive and count more than one vote from the same person at 
the same primar^^ for the same office, except as allowed by law ; 
or, fifth, shall refuse to receive the vote of a quahfied elector at 
such primary, who shall make affidavit and proof as required 
by this act ; or, sixth, shall be guilty of any fraud, corruption, 
partiality or manifest misbehavior ; or, seventh, shall open or 
unfold any ticket when the same is presented to be deposited 
in the ballot-box; or, eighth, shall willfully neglect to perform 
any of the duties required of him by this act, shall on conviction 
thereof be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 
thereof shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred 
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and imprisonment 
in the county jail not less than thirty days nor more than six 
months. (13) If any clerk of a primary shall willfully neglect 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 65 

to perform any duty required of him as clerk of primary, or shall 
be guilty of fraud, corruption or misbehavior as such clerk, he 
shall upon con^^iction be fined in a sum not less than one hun- 
dred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and imprison- 
ment in the count v jail not less than thirtv davs nor more than 
six months. (G. S. 1909, § 3310.) 

§ 91. Law Repealed. Chapter 115, Laws of 1891, and all acts 
or parts of acts inconsistent with or in conflict with the pro\'isions 
of this act, are hereby repealed. (G. S. 1909, § 3311.) 



§6 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTFJR VI. 
CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS. 

§ 92. Rules Determining Residence of Voter. The judges of 
election, in determining the residence of a person offering to vote, 
shall be governed by the following rules, so far as they may be 
applicable : 

First, That place shall be considered and held to be the resi- 
dence of a person in which his habitation is fixed, and to which, 
whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning. 

Second, A person shall not be considered or held to have lost 
his residence who shall leave his home and go into another state 
or territory, or county of this state, for temporary purposes 
merely, with an intention of returning. 

Third, A person shall not be considered or held to have gained 
a residence in any county of this state, into which he shall have 
come for temporary purposes merely, without the intention of 
making said county his home, but with the intention of leaving 
the same when he shall have accomphshed the business that 
brought him into it. 

Fourth, If a person remove to any other state, or to any of 
the territories, with the intention of making it his permanent 
residence, he shall be considered and held to have lost his resi- 
dence in this state. 

Fifth, The place where a married man's family resides shall 
be considered and held to be his residence. 

Sixth, If a person shall go into another state or territory, and 
while there exercise the right of suffrage, he shall be considered 
and held to have lost his residence in this state. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3122.) 

§ 93. When Vote is Challenged, Judge Shall Proceed How. 
If a person offering to vote is challenged as unqualified by one 
of the judges of election, or by an elector, one of the judges shall 
tender to him the following oath or affirmation: ''You do sol- 
emnly swear (or affirm) that you will fully and truly answer all 
such questions as shall be put to you, touching your place of res- 
idence and qualification of an elector at this election.'' 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 67 

First, If the person be challenged as unqualified on the ground 
that he is not a citizen, the judges, or one of them, shall put the 
following questions : 1. Are you a citizen of the United States? 

2. Are you a native or a naturalized citizen, and if neither, have 
you declared your intention to become a citizen, conformably to 
the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization? 

3. Have you become a citizen of the United States by reason of 
the naturalization of your parents, or one of them? 4. Where 
were your parents, or one of them, naturalized? If the person 
offering to vote claims to be a naturalized citizen of the United 
States, or that he has declared his intention to become such, he 
shall state under oath, where and in what court he was natural- 
ized. 

Second, If the person be challenged as unqualified on the 
ground that he has not resided in this state for six months imme- 
diately preceding the election, the judges, or one of them, shall 
put the following questions: 1. Have you resided in this state 
for six months preceding this election? 2. Have you been ab- 
sent from this state within six months immediately preceding this 
election? 3. If so, when j^ou left, was it for a temporary pur- 
pose, with a design of returning, or did you intend remaining 
away? 4. Did you, while absent, look upon and regard this 
state as your home? 5. Did you, while absent, vote in any 
other state or territory? 

Third, If the person is challenged on the ground that he is not 
a resident of the township or ward where he offers to vote, the 
judges, or one of them, shall put the following questions : 1. WTien 
did you come into this township or ward? 2. When you came 
into this township or ward, did you come for a temporary pur- 
pose merely, or for the purpose of making it your home? 3. Have 
you been, for the last thirty days, an actual resident of this town- 
ship or ward? 

Fourth, If the person be challenged as unquaUfied on the 
ground that he is not twenty-one years of age, the judges, or 
one of them, shall put the following question : Are you twenty- 
one years of age, to the best of your knowledge and belief? The 
judges of election, or one of them, shall put all such other ques- 
tions to the person challenged under the respective heads afore- 
said, as may be necessary to test his qualifications as an elector 
at that election. (G. S. 1909, § 3123.) 



68 GENERAL ELECTION L-\WS. 

§ 94. Reject Vote, when. If the person challenged as aforesaid 
shall refuse to answer fully any question which shall be put to him 
as aforesaid, the judges shall reject his vote. ' G. S. 1909. § 3124.) 

§ 95. Further Duty of Jud.ge. If the chaUenge be not v,ith- 
drawn, after the person offering to vote shall have answered the 
questions put to him as aforesaid, one of the jtidges of election shall 
tender to him the folloTsing oath : 

"You do solemnly swear (or afiinn) that you are a citizen of the L'mted States 
(or declared your intention to become such), of the age of twenty-one years; that 
you have been an inhabitant of this state for six months next preceding this election ; 
that you have been for the last thirty days, and now are. an actual resident of this 
township (or ward) ; and that you have not voted at this election." 

— (G. S. 1909, §3125.) 

§ 96. Vote to he Rejected. If any person shall refuse to take 
the oath or affirmation so tendered, his vote shaU be rejected : 
Provided, That after such vote shall have been taken, the judges 
may, nevertheless, refuse to permit such person to vote, if they 
shall be satisfied, from record evidence, or other legal testimony, 
adduced before them, that he is not a legal voter : and they are 
hereby authorized to admimster the necessary oaths or affirma- 
tions to all witnesses brought before them to testify to the qual- 
ifications of ajDerson ofi-ering to vote. (G. S. 1909, § 3126.) 

§ 97. Xot Entitled to Privileges of Elector. Xo person shall be 
entitled to the privileges of an elector of the state of Kansas who 
shall refuse to take an oath to support and defend the constitu- 
tion and goverimient of the United States and the constitution 
and government of this state. (G. S. 1909. § 3127.^ 

§ 98. Duty of Clerks. Wlienever any person's vote shall be re- 
ceived after having taken the oath prescribed in the twenty-first 
[twelfth] section of this act. or the oath of allegiance, it shaU be 
the duty of the clerks of the election to write on the poll-book at 
the end of such person's name, the word '"Sworn, " and the baUot 
shall be numbered on its back to correspond ^fith the person's 
name on the poll-book. G. S. 1909. § 312S. • 

§ 99. Judge shall Chcdlenge. It shaU be the duty of each judge 
of election to challenge any person oft'ering to vote, whom he shall 
know or suspect not to be ciualified as an elector. (G. S. 1909, 
§3129.) 

§ 100. Duty in regard to Ballot-Boxes. It shall be the duty of 



GEXERAL ELECTION LAWS. 69 

the judges of election, or one of them, immediately before procla- 
mation is made of the opening of the polls, to open the ballot- 
boxes in the presence of the people there assembled,, and tm:"n them 
upside down, so as to empty them of everything that may be in 
them, and then lock them securely, and they shall not be reopened 
until for the purpose of counting the ballots therein, at the close of 
the election. (G. S. 1909, § 3130.) 

§ 101. Candidates in Roo?n. The judges of election shall, if 
requested, permit the respective candidates, or one or more, not 
exceeding three, of their friends, to be present in the room where 
the judges are, during the time of receiving and counting the 
votes. (G. S. 1909, § 3131.) 

§ 102. Poll-Books to he Signed. At the close of the polls the 
poll-books shall be signed by the judges and attested by the clerks, 
and the names therein contained shall be counted and the number 
set down at the foot of the poll-books in the manner hereinafter 
pro\4ded in the form of the poll-books. (G. S. 1909, § 3132.) 

§ 103. Boxes Opened and Votes Counted. After the poll-books 
are signed in the manner hereinafter prescribed in the form of the 
poll-books, the ballot-boxes shall be opened, and the tickets taken 
out one at a time by one of the judges, who shall read distinctly, 
while the ticket remains in his hand, the name or names written or 
printed thereon : also the ofhce that is intended to be filled by such 
person voted for ; then deliver it to the second judge, who shall 
examine the same, who shall pass it to the third judge, who shall 
string it on a strong thread and carefully preserve the same : and 
the same method shall be observed in respect to each of the tickets 
in the ballot-box, until the number of tickets taken out of the 
ballot-box is equal to the number of names upon the poll-books. 
(G. S. 1909, §3133.) 

§ 104. Vote Entered. The clerks shall enter in a column under 
the names of the persons voted for, as hereinafter provided in the 
form of the poll-books, all the votes as declared read bv the 
judges. (G. S. 1909, §3134.) 

§ 105. Form of Poll-Boohs. The following shall be the form 
of the poll-books to be kept by the judges and clerks of election 
held under this act : 



70 



GENEIL^L ELECTION LAW 



Poll-Books of the election held in the township i or ward ■ of . in the county 

of . on the day of , in the year A. D. one thousand nine hundred 

and . A. B.. C. D. and E. F.. judges, and G. H. and J. K.. clerks of said 

election, were respectively sworn !,or affirmed as the laws direct, previous to- 
their enterino: on the duties of their respective offices. 

NT'MBER AXD NAMES OF ELECTORS. 




It is herebv certified that the number of electors of this election amoimts to 
Attest:" A. B., ] 

^' ^^ ^^ Clerk'. ^ ^^ r '^^^"^^• 

J. K., *-^^^^'- E. F.. 



X.VMES OF PERSONS VOTED FOR. AND FOR Vv^HAT OFFICE. CONTAIXING THE NUMBER OF 
VOTES GIVEN FOR EACH CANDIDATE. 



Governor. Representative in 

I r-onsress. 



Representative in the state legislature. 



I R 



enate. House? of representatives. 



We hereby certify that A. B. had 
votes for governor: that E. F. had - 

G. H.: 

J. K., 



Clerks. 



votes for governor and CD. had 

votes for representative in congress, etc. 
A.B., i 

C. D., [ Judges. 
E.F., j 



— (G. 



1909. 5 3135. 



§ 106. Books o.nd BalhAs suit to Ci>unty Ckrk. After canvass- 
ing the votes in the manner aforesaid, the judges, before they ad- 
journ, shall put under cover one of the poll-books, seal the same, 
and direct it to the county clerk of the county where the return 
is to be made : and the poll-book, thus sealed and directed, to- 
gether with the ballots sealed as hereinbefore required, shall be 
conveyed by one of the judges, to be determined by lot if they can- 
not otherwise agree, to the county clerk of the county, witliin two 
days' from the day of the election : and the other poll-books shall 
be deposited with a tru>tee oi the township or clerk of the city, 
as the ca.-e may be. within three days of the election, there to 
remain for the use of the persons who may choose to inspect the 
same. G. S. 1909. §3136.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 71 

CHAPTER VII. 

REGISTRATION OF VOTERS. 

§ 107. How Ascertained. The citizens in cities of the first and 
second class who are entitled to the right of suffrage shall be as- 
certained as herein provided. (G. S. 1909, § 776.) 

§ 108. Poll-Books. It shall be the duty of the mayor and 
council of each city of the first and second class, immediately upon 
the taking effect of this act, to procure and open for the registra- 
tion of voters a poll-book for each ward of such city, and on the 
first Monday in January, A. D. eighteen hundred and eighty, and 
each year thereafter on the same day, to procure and open on said 
day a like book of registration for each of said wards. (G. S. 
1909, §777.) 

§ 109. Officer of Registration. Such poll-books shall at all 
times be kept at the office of the city clerk of such city, and the 
city clerk shall be the officer of registration of such city, and it 
shall be his duty to register all citizens of said city on such poll- 
books as hereinafter provided. (G. S. 1909, § 778.) 

§ 110. Registration. It shall be the duty of all legally qual- 
ified voters of such city, after the opening of the books as herein 
provided, to apply to the city clerk, or election commissioner in 
cities having such commissioner, to be registered therein, at any 
such time or times as said books shall be opened for that purpose 
as provided in this act ; and such registration, when made as in 
this act provided, shall entitle such voters to vote in their respec- 
tive wards, if otherwise legally qualified ; as long as such voter 
shall continue to reside at the same street and house number and 
shall vote at each general election, he or she shall not be required 
to register ; but if an}^ voter so registered fails to vote at any gen- 
eral election, his or her name shall be dropped from the list of 
registered voters ; or upon the removal of any voter from the house 
or street number from which he or she may have registered, he 
or she shall personally appear before the city clerk or election 
commissioner as aforesaid and be registered. If such voters are 
otherwise legally qualified, and they have caused themselves to 
be registered as required by this act, such registration shall be 
prima facie evidence of the right of such voters to vote at any 



72 GENERAL ELECTION L^^WS. 

election held in such city subsequent to such registration. (G. 
S. 1909, § 779.) 

§ 111. Notice. It shall be the duty of the city clerk, upon the 
receipt of the poll-books in this act provided for. to cause to be 
pubhshed a notice, in a newspaper of general circulation in such 
city, for ten days, notifying the citizens of said city that they can 
register at his office, according to the provisions of this act ; and 
a hke notice shall be pubhshed each year, witliin twenty days after 
the first ^Monday in January of each year. The notice for the year 
eighteen hundred and seventy-nine shall be pubhshed within 
thirty days after the taking effect of this act. G. S. 1909. § 780.) 

§ 112. Books: Opened and Closed. The poll-books in tliis 
act provided for shall be open at all business hours of the office 
during the year, for registration of voters, and the last ten days 
before closing such books, prior to each election, they shah be 
kept open during the noon hours and until ten o'clock each night, 
except that they shall be closed for the purpose of registration 
ten days preceding any election to be held in such city. The city 
clerk shall give a notice, to be pubhshed at least ten days preced- 
ing such closing in some newspaper of general circulation in said 
city, to be selected by the mayor and city council. Such notice 
shaU be pubhshed for at least fi^'e days, stating the thne when 
such books will be opened noon and night and the time of closing 
the same. The mayor, by and with the consent of the city council, 
may employ such deputies or assistants for the city clerk or com- 
missioner of elections as may be necessary to conduct and complete 
such registration and compile and copy such registration books, 
at an expense of not to exceed eight hundred dollars annually in 
cities of the ffi'st class, and not to exceed three hundred dollai^ 
in cities of the second class. The chairman of any political or- 
ganization or central com mi ttee may appoint not to exceed two 
reputable persons, who shall take an oath before the clerk not to 
mutilate or in an}- manner change the records of such books, and 
thereafter such persons shall have access to such registration books 
at any time dming business hours, under the supervision of the 
clerk, for the purpose of making copies of or examining the same 
for the use of such pohtical organization : Provided. That such 
persons shall not interfere with the duties of the clerk or the reg- 
ular business of the office so as to impede public business. ('G. 
S. 1909, §781.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 73 

§ 113. Form of. The registration shall be in the follo\\dng 
form in said book : 

Date of Registration. Name. Check-line. Age. Occupation. Residence. Remarka. 

The names of the persons registered shall be entered in alpha- 
betical order, and an entry^ shall be made opposite the name of 
each person to correspond to each of the heads contained in the 
head of the registrv^ list. Under the head of ''Residence," the 
number and street of the house or building, or the nimaber of the 
lot and block whereon the house or building is situated where the 
person registered resides, shall be entered. (G. S. 1909, § 782.) 

§ 114. Application. Xo person shall be registered unless he 
appear in person before the city clerk, at the cit}^ clerk's office, 
during usual office hours, and apply to be registered, and give his 
name, age, occupation, and particular place of residence, as re- 
quired to make the proper entries in the poll-books. (G. S. 
1909, §783.) 

§ 115. Who Xot to Vote. Xo person shall be entitled to vote 
at any election in any such city who is not registered according 
to the pro\dsions of this act. The registration shall not be con- 
clusive evidence of the right of any registered person to vote, but 
said person may be challenged and required to establish his right 
at the polls in the manner now required bv law. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 784.) 

§ 116. Certificate. It shall be the duty of the city clerk to 
give to each citizen registered according to the pro\dsions of this 
act a certificate of registration, which shall be substantially in 
the following form : 

, Kansas, , 191 — . 

This is to certify that , a citizen of the city of , has this day of 

, 191 — , been duly registered as a voter in the ward poll-book of said city, 

and is entitlecj to vote at any election held in said city preceding the first Monday 
in January', A. D. 191 — , if he is otherwise a qualified voter under the laws of the 
state of Kansas. 

Witness my hand and the seal of said city, this day of , A. D. 191 — . 

, City Clerk. 

(G. S. 1909, § 785.) 

§ 117. Clerk to Administer Oaths. The city clerk is hereby 
empowered to administer all necessary oaths, to examine the ap- 
plicant for registration, or any witnesses he may offer in his be- 
half, in order to ascertain his right to be registered under the pro- 
visions of this act. If the applicant for registration will be en- 
titled to vote at the next ensuing election, he shall be entitled to 



74 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

registration, otherwise he shall not be registered. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 786.) 

§ 118. RemovaL If any citizen of said city shall, during the 
year for which he has been registered, change his residence from 
one ward of said city to another ward of said city, he shall apply 
to said city clerk to have said removal noted on said poll-books 
when the same are open. The city clerk shall register said per- 
son, in the ward to which he has removed, and run a red-ink line 
across his name in the ward book of his former residence, and 
likewise note the transfer in the column "Remarks" in said poll- 
book, and also indorse on the certificate of registration of said 
person the fact of said removal. (G. S. 1909, § 787.) 

§ 119. Copies of Poll-Books. It shall be the duty of the city 
clerk, immediately upon the close of the poll-books, preceding any 
election to be held in said city, to prepare a true and correct copy 
of the said poll-books, certified to by liim to be such copy ; and 
in time for the opening of polls, as provided by law, to have said 
copy at the voting precincts of the respective wards, and deliver 
the copy for such ward to one of the judges of said election, and 
take his receipt therefor. (G. S. 1909, § 788.) 

§ 120. Duty of Judges. At every such election one of the 
judges of election shall, as such [each] person registered votes, 
enter on the said certified copy, in the check-line opposite the 
name of such person, the word "Voted." Said certified copy to be 
returned to the city clerk after said election, and by him pre- 
served. fG. S. 1909, §789.) 

§ 121. Penalty. If any ofhcer shall neglect or refuse to per- 
form any duty required by this act, or in the manner required by 
this act, or shall neglect or refuse to enter upon the performance 
of any such duty, or shall enter or cause or permit to be entered 
on the registry books the name of any person in any other manner 
or at any other time than as prescribed by this act, or shall enter 
or cause or permit to be entered on such lists the name of any 
person not entitled to be registered thereon according to the pro- 
visions of this act, or shall destroy, secrete, mutilate, alter or 
change any such registry books, he shall upon conviction be pun- 
ished by confinement and hard labor in the penitentiary not ex- 
ceeding one year, and shall forfeit anv office he mav then hold. 
(G. S. 1909,^ § 790.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 75 

§ 122. Falsely Impersonating Another. If any person shall 
falsely personate another, and procure the person so personated 
to be registered, or if any person shall represent his name to the 
city clerk to be different from what it actually is, and cause such 
name to be registered, or if any person shall cause any name to be 
place upon the registry lists otherwise than in the manner pro- 
vided in this act, he shall upon conviction be punished by con- 
finement and hard labor in the penitentiary not exceeding one 
year. (G. S. 1909, § 791.) 

§ 123. Statutes Repealed. That an act entitled "An act to 
ascertain, by proper proofs, the citizens in cities of the first class 
who are entitled to the right of suffrage under the constitution," 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine ; and an 
act entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to ascer- 
tain, by proper proof, the citizens in cities of the first class who 
are entitled to the right of suffrage under the constitution,' ap- 
proved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine," approved 
February twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and seventy ; and sec- 
tion six of an act entitled "An act with reference to cities of the 
first class," approved March first, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
two ; and section four of an act entitled ' ' An act relating to cities 
of the first class, and providing for the election and appointment 
of officers therein named, and prescribing the duties of such offi- 
cers," approved March sixth, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
seven ; and all laws or parts of laws in conflict with the provisions 
of this act, be and the same are herebv repealed. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 792.) 



76 GENERA.L ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTER VHI. 
CRIMES AFFECTING PUBLIC TRUSTS. 

§ 124. Bribery of Officer. Every person who shall directly or 
indirectly give any money, goods, rights in action, or any other 
valuable consideration, gratuity or reward, or any promise, under- 
taking or security therefor, to any officer of this state, or of any 
county — First, with intent to influence his vote, opinion, judgment 
or decision on any question, matter, cause or proceeding which 
may be then pending, or may by law be brought before him in his 
official capacity, or to induce him to neglect or omit the perform- 
ance of any official duty or to perform such duty with partiality 
or favor, otherwise than is required by law ; or, second, in con- 
sideration that such officer hath given any vote, opinion, judgment 
or decision, in any particular manner, upon any particular side, 
or more favorable to one side than the other, in any matter, ques- 
tion, cause or proceeding, or hath omitted to perform any official 
act or duty, or hath performed such act or duty with partiahty or 
favor, or otherwise, contrary to law, shall on conviction be ad- 
judged guilty of bribery, and be punished by confinement and 
hard labor for a term not exceeding seven years. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 2685.) 

§ 125. Offering or Attempting to Bribe. It shall be unlawful for 
any person by any of the means mentioned in sections 2188 and 
2189 of the General Statutes of 1901, or otherwise, to offer to 
attempt to bribe any officer or other person in any of the cases 
mentioned in said sections ; or for any officer or other person in 
any such case directly or indirectly to offer to accept a bribe, or 
solicit, ask or seek the payment of a bribe ; and any such person 
or offxcer, upon conviction of any such offenses, shall be punished 
by imprisonment at hard labor in the penitentiary of the state of 
Kansas for a period of not exceeding five years, or by imprison- 
ment in the county jail for a term not exceeding one year, and by 
a fine of not exceeding one thousand dollars. (G. S. 1909, § 2687.) 

§ 126. Bribery, for Election to Office. If any person shall di- 
rectly or indirectly give or procure to be given, or engage to give, 
any money, gift or reward, or any office, place or employment, 
upon any engagement, contract or agreement that the person to 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 77 

whom, or to whose use, or on whose behalf such gift or promise 
shall be made, shall by himself or any other, procure, or endeavor 
to procure, the election of any person to any office, at any election 
by the electors, or any public body, under the constitution or laws 
of this state, the person so offending shall on conviction be ad- 
judged guilty of bribery, and punished by imprisonment and hard 
labor for a term not exceeding five years. (G. S. 1909, § 2688.) 

§ 127. Bribery of Voters. If any person, by himself or any 
person employed by him, shall, by gift or reward, office or em- 
ployment, or by any promise, agreement or security therefor, 
corrupt or procure or attempt to corrupt or procure any person 
who shall have or claim to have a right to vote at any election, to 
give or forbear to give his vote at such election, the person so 
offending shall on conviction be adjudged guilty of bribery, and 
punished as in the next preceding section [126] is prescribed. 
(G. S. 1909, § 2689.) 

§ 128. Grant or Deputation of Office. Every grant or deputa- 
tion of office made contrary to the foregoing provisions shall be 
void ; but all official acts, done before conviction, under this act, 
by any deputy of an officer authorized to make such appointment, 
shall be valid. (G. S. 1909, § 2690.) 

§ 129. Persons Convicted of Offenses, Disqualified. Every per- 
son who shall be duly convicted of any of the offenses mentioned 
in the preceding sections of this act shall be forever disqualified 
from holding any office of honor, trust or profit under the laws of 
this state, and from voting at any election. (G. S. 1909, § 2693.) 

§ 130. Attem])ting Unlawfully to Influence Votes. If any per- 
son, by menaces, threats or force, or by any other unlawful means, 
either directly or indirectly attempts to influence any qualified 
voter in giving his vote, or to deter him from giving the same, or 
disturbs or hinders him in the free exercise of his right of suffrage, 
at any election held under the laws of this state,the person so of- 
fending shall on conviction thereof be adjudged guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and be punished by fine not exceeding five hundred 
dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one 
year. (G. S. 1909, § 2699.) 

§ 131. Voting More Than Once. Every person who shall at 
the same election vote more than once, either at the same or dif- 
ferent place, shall on conviction be adjudged guilty of a mis- 



78 GENERAL ELECTION UWVS. 

demeanor, and be punished b}^ fiae not exceeding three hundred 
dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one 
year. (G. S. 1909, §2700.) 

§ 132. Voting without being Qualified. Every person not be- 
ing a qualified voter according to the constitution and the laws of 
this state, who shall vote at any election within this state, knowing 
that he is not entitled to vote, shall be adjudged guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and punished by fine not exceeding three hundred dol- 
lars, and imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year. 
(G. S. 1909, §2701.) 

§ 133. Receiving Illegal Votes, etc. Any person or persons 
whomsoever who may be charged with holding any election in 
this state, authorized by law, who shall willfully and knowingly 
receive any vote offered by any person who is not a resident in 
good faith of this state at the time of offering to vote, or who shall 
have voted previously at the same election, or any person who 
shall knowingl}^ and willfulh^ commit any irregularity or fraud 
whatever with the intent to hinder, prevent or defeat a fair ex- 
pression of the popular will, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment and 
hard labor for a term not less than one year nor more than three 
years. (G. S. 1909, §2703.) 

§ 134. Counterfeit Poll-Books. Any person who shall have in 
his possession any falsely made, altered, forged or counterfeit 
poll-books, tally-list or election returns of any election in this state, 
authorized by law or held under an}^ semblance or pretense of law, 
knowing the same to be falsely made, altered, forged or counter- 
feited, with intent to hinder, prevent or defeat a fair expression 
of the popular will, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon 
conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment and hard 
labor for a term not less than one year nor more than three years. 
(G. S. 1909, §2704.) 

§ 135. Fraudulently Canvassing Election. Any person or per- 
sons whomsoever who may be authorized by law or any semblance 
or pretense of law to receive, canvass or count the poll-books or 
tally-lists or election returns of any election held under law or any 
semblance or pretense of law, who shall willfully and knowingly 
receive, canvass and count any poll-books, talh^-lists or election 
returns which are fraudulent, forged or counterfeited, or shall 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 79 

falsely and fraudulently count and cast up any poll-books, tally- 
lists, election returns or votes, with intent to hinder, prevent or 
defeat a fair expression of the popular will, shall be deemed guilty 
of felony, and upon con\dction thereof shall be punished by im- 
prisonment and hard labor for a term not less than two years nor 
more than five years. (G. S. 1909, § 2705. ) 

§ 136. Granting Certificates; Fraudulent Elections. Any per- 
son or persons authorized by law or by any semblance or pretense 
of law to grant certificates of election, or to declare by proclama- 
tion or otherwise the result of any election held under law or any 
semblance or pretense of law. who shall grant such certificates 
or declare the result of such elections based upon fraudulent, 
fictitious or illegal votes, with intent to hinder, prevent or defeat a 
fair expression of the popular will, shall be deemed guilty of 
felony, and upon con^dction thereof shall be punished by imprison- 
ment and hard labor for a term not less than two vears nor more 
than five years. (G. S. 1909, § 2706.) 

§ 137. Inscribing Xarne of Person Xot Voting. Any person or 
persons who shall knowingly and willfully inscribe or cause to be 
inscribed upon any poll-book, tally-list or election returns of any 
election held under law or under any semblance or pretense of 
law, the name of any person not entitled to vote, or not voting, 
with intent to hinder, prevent or defeat a fair expression of the 
popular will, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon conviction 
thereof shall be punished by imprisonment and hard labor for a 
term not less than one year nor more than two vears. (G. S. 
1909, §2707.) 

§ 138. Subscribing Counterfeit Election Returns. Any person 
who shall subscribe or cause to be subscribed his own name or any 
other name, as judge or clerk of any election, to any falsely made, 
altered, fraudulent or counterfeited poll-book. tally-Hst or election 
returns, knowing the same to be falsely made, altered, fraudulent 
or counterfeited, with intent to hinder, prevent or defeat a fair 
expression of the popular will, shall be deemed guilty of felony, 
and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment 
and hard labor for a term not less than one vear nor more than two 
years. (G. S. 1909, §2708.) 

§ 139. Officer Accepting Bribe. Any officer of the state or of 
any county, city, district, or township, after his election or ap- 



80 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

pointment, and either before or after he shall have qualified, or 
entered upon his ofiicial duties, who shall accept or receive any 
money or the loan of any money, or any real or personal propert}^ 
or any pecuniary or other personal advantage, present or pros- 
pective, under any agreement or understanding that his vote, 
opinion, judgment or action shall be thereby influenced, or as a 
reward for having given or withheld any vote, opinion, or judg- 
ment in any matter before him in his official capacity, or ha^dng 
wrongfully done or omitted to do any official act, shall be punished 
by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one 
thousand dollars, or b}^ imprisonment for not less than one year 
nor more than seven years in the penitentiary at hard labor, or 
by both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the 
court. (G. S. 1909, §2709.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 81 

CHAPTER IX. 

COMMISSIONER OF ELECTIONS. 

§ 140. Commissioner of Elections in Cities of over 30,000. 
That in cities of the first class having more than 30,000 inhabit- 
ants, the governor of the state shall appoint a commissioner 
of elections, imless one is already appointed, who shall hold his 
ofiice for the term of four years and until his successor is ap- 
pointed and qualified; but he may, for official misconduct, be 
removed by the governor. The governor shall appoint his 
successor for the same term of years ; and in case of death, resig- 
nation or removal of the commissioner of elections, the appoint- 
ment shall be for the unexpired term. Such commissioner shall 
have been a qualified elector and resident of said city at least 
two years prior to his appointment, and shall before entering 
upon his duties take and subscribe and cause to be filed in the 
office of the secretary of state an oath of office for the faithful 
discharge of duty, within ten days after receiving official notice 
of his appointment. The annual salary of such commissioner 
of elections in cities to which this act applies and having less 
than 50,000 inhabitants shall be twelve hundred dollars ; in 
cities of 50,000 inhabitants and over, fifteen hundred dollars; 
and shall be paid monthly out of the city treasury in like manner 
as the salaries of other city officers. He shall, subject to the 
control of the board of supervisors of elections appointed as 
hereinafter provided, hold his office in a suitable and convenient 
place provided by the city, and if such place is not provided by 
said city, then in some place designated by said supervisors of 
elections. He shall prepare and furnish copies of all registra- 
tion and all books, maps, instructions and blanksfor the use and 
guidance of judges and clerks of elections, and all rules and reg- 
ulations pertaining to registration and conduct of elections, 
keep the same on file in his office when not needed for the con- 
duct of elections, subject only to the inspection of said board 
of supervisors of elections, and he shall perform such other and 
further duties pertaining to the office as maybe required of him 
by law. He shall procure a seal of office, properly inscribed, and 
shall authenticate all his official acts therewith. (G. S. 1909, 
§1157.) 



82 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

§ 141. Supervisors of Elections. It shall be the duty of the 
commissioner of elections, on or before the first regular meeting 
in January of each year, to name three councilmen from differ- 
ent wards of such city, who, with the commissioner of elections, 
shall constitute a board of supervisors of elections ; said board 
so nominated shall be confirmed by the city council, but not 
more than two members thereof shall belong to the same political 
party or organization. Immediately after their appointment 
and confirmation as aforesaid, said members of the board of super- 
visors of elections shall organize by electing one of their number 
chairman, and the conmiissioner of elections provided for herein 
shall be secretary. On the first Tuesday following the closing 
of the registration books prior to any election, said board of 
supervisors shall meet at the office of the commissioner of elec- 
tions to hear all cases of appeal from the action of the commis- 
sioner of elections, notice in writing of the intent to take such 
appeal having been filed with said commissioner before the clos- 
ing of the registration books ; to strike from the registration 
rolls the names of all persons who have fraudulently or errone- 
ously registered, upon sufficient evidence of the fact having been 
presented to said board, and provided notice of such intended 
cancellation of registration having been served by some police 
or other peace officer of the city on the person whose name is 
to be taken from the poll-books, or by leaving a copy of such 
notice at the place from which such person registered. If evi- 
dence of fraudulent or erroneous registration has been presented 
to said board as aforesaid, or if said board of supervisors or com- 
missioner of elections have reasonable grounds for believing that 
fraudulent or erroneous registration has been made in any pre- 
cinct in said city, then said supervisors of elections or commis- 
sioner of elections may appoint two reputable persons, one from 
each of the two leading political parties or organizations, who 
shall go together to the street and number as given by such sup- 
posed fraudulent voter and ascertain whether such voter re- 
sides and is a legal voter in the precinct where he is registered 
from. For this purpose the commissioner of elections shall give 
to each of said canvassers a list containing the names of each 
supposed fraudulent voter, and the street and number of such, 
as shown by the poll-books, and said canvassers shall return 
said lists to the commissioner of elections immediately, and shall 
note thereon if such persons were then residing in said precinct 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 83 

and a legal voter therein. The board of supervisors shall ex- 
amine such lists and order the names of all persons found to have 
been fraudulently or erroneously registered stricken from the 
poll-books in the manner provided for in this section and in no 
other. They shall have power to adjourn from day to day to 
within three days preceding such election, when the adjourn- 
ment as a board of revision of registration shall be final. Xotice 
of such meetings shall be given by the commissioner of elections 
by pubhcation in the official paper of the city for two consecu- 
tive weeks^ the final publication to be made before the date of 
such meeting. The board of elections shall convene in session 
at their office at seven o'clock p. m. on the day of every election 
in such cities, and remain in session continuously until the state- 
ments gi^ing the result of the election, as required herein, shall 
have been received from every precinct in such city by the com- 
missioner of elections and laid before said board. The board 
shall have power to employ messengers, to use the telephones 
and telegraph, direct the police force of the city, and use any 
other lawful means to secure prompt and correct reports from 
the election judges as above required. The police authorities 
shall assign at least one policeman to duty in each precinct on 
every day of an election. ('G. S. 1909. § 1158.' 

§ 142. Registration of Voters. Xo person shall be registered 
in any city to which the pro\'isions of this act apply, unless he 
appear in person before the commissioner of elections at his 
office, or at the place or places in each ward to be designated by 
the commissioner of elections by publication in the official paper 
of the city, dm-ing usual office hom's. or at such hom's as may be 
designated in the notice aforesaid, and shall apply to be registered. 
Registration at any other place or before any other officer than 
the commissioner of elections or deputies appointed by him shall 
be fraudulent and illegal. Such registration, when made as 
herein pro^^ded. shall entitle the voter to vote at any election 
prior to the first ^londay in January of each odd-numbered year : 
Provided, however. Voters who are legally registered on the 1st 
day of January. 1907, will not be required to re-register until the 
next general registration on the first Monday in January, 1909. 
Should any registered voter move from one precinct to another 
in such city, he or she will be required to re-register : otherT\'ise 
Jie or she cannot vote. The commissioner of elections is herebv 



^ GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

empowered to administer all necessary oaths, to examine the 
applicant for registration or any witness he may offer in his be- 
half, in order to ascertain his right to be registered ; to make the 
proper entry in the registration books, under the provisions of 
this act. If the applicant for registration will be entitled to 
vote at the next ensuing election, he shall be entitled to regis- 
tration, and the commissioner of elections shall enter the name 
of said applicant on the poll-books and give said applicant a 
certificate of registration ; and if the answers of such applicant 
are not satisfactory to such commissioners of elections, such appli- 
cant shall not be registered. Any person who shall be refused a 
certificate of registration or is not allowed to have his name en- 
tered on the poll-books by the commissioner shall have a right 
to appeal to the board of supervisors of elections at any meeting; 
of said board, and if two members of said board decide that said 
applicant shall have a right to vote at the next ensuing election 
his name shall be entered on the poll-books by the commissioner 
of elections ; otherwise he shall not be registered : Provided^ 
That in cities of the first class of less than sixty thousand inhabit- 
ants no voter now legally registered shall be required to register 
so long as he or she votes at each regular election and continues 
to reside at the street number at which he or she is now legally 
registered. (G. S. 1909, § 1159.) 

§ 143. Boundaries of Wards and Precincts. The commissioner 
of elections shall proclaim the boundaries of all wards and elec- 
tion precincts in such city by publication in the official paper of 
the city for two consecutive weeks immediately after such pre- 
cincts are established or immediately after any changes are made^ 
and also during the first two weeks of each year. (G. S. 1909,, 
§ 1160.) 

§ 144. Change in Ward Boundaries. It shall be the duty of 
the clerk of such city to certify to the commissioner of elections 
any and all changes that are made in the boundaries of any and 
all wards of the city within twenty-four hours after such changes 
have been made. No change in the boundaries of any ward or 
precinct in such city shall be made less than sixty days prior to 
any general election. The board of supervisors of elections 
provided for in this act shall divide each ward into suitable elec- 
tion precincts so as to limit the number of votes in each precinct 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 85 

to four hundred male electors, as near as may be practicable. 
(G. S. 1909. § 1161.) 

§ 145. Separate Books. Separate registration books shall be 
kept for each precinct for all female voters, and copies of such 
registration books shall be made separate!}^, and such copies 
shall be subject to public inspection only at elections at which 
female electors shall be entitled to vote. (G. S. 1909. § 1162.) 

§ 146. Copy of Registration Book. It shall be the duty of the 
commissioner of elections, immediately upon the close of and 
re^^sion of the registration books preceding any election to be 
held in such city, to prepare a true and correct copy of said regis- 
tration book, certified to by him to be such copy, and in time 
for the opening of the polls as pro^dded by law; to have such 
copies at the voting precincts of such city, and deUver a copj" for 
each precinct to one of the judges of election. (G. S. 1909, 

§ 1163.;^ 

§ 147. Checking Vote. At every election one of the judges 
of elections shall, as each registered person votes, enter on the 
said certified copy, in the check-line and opposite the name of 
such person, the word ''Voted" ; said certified copy to be re- 
turned to the commissioner of elections immediately after the 
vote is counted, and bv him preserved in his office. fG. S. 1909. 
§ 1164.) 

§ 148. Certified Statement of Vote. The judges and clerks in 
each precinct, as soon as the ballots have been coimted and taUied 
for each candidate, shall make out and certify a summary state- 
ment of the number of votes cast therein and the mmiber counted 
and talhed for' each candidate, and dispatch the same by special 
messenger and in a sealed envelope to the commissioner of elec- 
tions, at his office. Such messenger shall be entitled to a fee of 
one dollar for such services. (G. S. 1909. § 1165.) 

§ 149. Printed Instructions. It is hereby made the duty of 
the commissioner of elections in each city to which this act ap- 
plies to furnish printed instructions to judges and clerks of elec- 
tions, defining their duties and the law governing elections, and 
said commissioner is hereby empowered and required to have 
general super\'ision of all elections held under this act and to see 
that such elections are conducted according to law. Any of 
such judges and clerks failing to perform such duties prescribed 



Si^ GEXEFL^L ELECTION L.\WS. 

as aforesaid shall be punished as provided in this act. • G. S. 
1909, § 1166.) 

§ 150. Deputies and Clerks. The commissioner of elections 
shall appoint his own deputies, and shall be allowed for clerk- 
hire an additional simi not to exceed one thousand dollars : said 
sum to be fixed by the board of supervisors of election. ■ G. S. 
1909. § 1167. 

§ 151. Duty of Police Officers. It is hereby made the duty of 
the chief, captain, sergeant or other person having coiomand of the 
pohce in any section of said city to which the provisions of this 
act apphes, on the request of the officer in charge of such regis- 
tration or that of either of the judges or clerks of election, to 
furnish a pohceman to preserve order, and to protect such officer 
of registration and elections in the lawftil discharge of his dtuies. 
It shall be unlawftil for any pohce officer of the cities to which this 
act apphes to serve as a judge or clerk of any election during his 
term of office. If any such officer shall at the time of holding any 
election sohcit. coerce or attempt in any manner to influence any 
voter, or aid. encotirage or protect any person or persons in so 
doing, or in any way interfere with any judge or clerk of election 
in the lawful and peaceable discharge of his duty, he shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shaU. 
be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one 
htmdred dollars, or by imprisonment in the cotmty jail for not 
less than ten nor more than thirty days, or by both such fine and 
imprisonment. G. S. 1909. § 1168.) 

§ 152. Judges and Clerks of Election. The commissioner of 
elections shall appoint the judges and clerks of elections in the 
manner prescribed by the Austrahan ballot law : but such judges 
and clerks must be reputable citizens and not engaged in or in any 
way interested in any unlawful business or traffic,, and must be a 
resident of and registered in the precinct in which each will serve. 
The conmiissioner of elections shall send the notice of their ap- 
pointment to each of said judges and clerks at least ten days prior 
to each election, and they must appear before him at his office at 
least five days before the election for which they were appointed 
to take the oath of office and ciuahfy as such jtidges and clerks : 
and on failure of any elector so appointed to appear and quahfy 
before said time expires, the commissioner of elections shall im- 
mediately fill =uch vacancies from the qualified electors in the 



GENERAL ELECTION L.\WS. 87 

precinct in which such vacancy occurs ; but no person shall be 
excused from serving as such judge or clerk after having been so 
appointed and notified, except by reason of ill-health, old age, 
unavoidable absence from city, or other imperative cause, or that 
he intends to be a candidate for some office to be filled at the elec- 
tion for which he is appointed to serve. The conmiissioner of 
elections shall have power to administer the oaths to the judges 
and clerks and shall examine them as to their fitness to serve as 
such. If any of said judges or clerks shall fail or refuse to appear 
and serve at the proper time and place, then the electors shall 
select from their number, viva voce, persons from the bystanders 
to take the place of the absent judge or clerk, to fill such vacancies, 
who shall take and subscribe the same oath prescribed for judges 
and clerks of election, which oath can be administered by any one 
of the judges present. The conmiissioner of elections shall pro- 
vide one meal at noon and one at the close of the polls for each 
judge and clerk, to be paid for as other election expenses are. 
(G. S. 1909, § 1169.) 

§ 153. Poll-Books Opened and Closed. The poll-books used 
in the registration pro\4ded for in this act shall be open at all 
business hours of the office, and the last ten days before closing 
such books prior to each election they shall be kept open during 
noon hours and until ten o'clock at night, except they shall be 
closed for the purpose of registration ten days preceding any elec- 
tion to be held in such city, five days' notice of such time of clos- 
ing said books ha^dng been given prior thereto in the daily 
papers. (G. S. 1909, § 1170.) 

§ 154. Penalty Violating Act. Any judge or clerk of election, 
or any person appointed by the commissioner of elections to per- 
form any of the duties provided for in this act, who shall fail or 
neglect to perform such duty, or who shall willfully violate any of 
its provisions, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
con\'iction thereof shall be punished by a fine not less than twenty- 
five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, and b}^ imprison- 
ment in the countv jail not more than thirty davs. (G. S. 1909, 
§1171.) 



88 GENER.\L ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTER X. 
CITIES OF FIRST CLASS. 

I.— Government by Mayor and Council.. 

§ 155. Annual All elections for city officers shall be held on 
the first Tuesday in April of each year. (G. S. 1909, § 875.^^ 

§ 156. Polls Kept Open. At all elections held under this act, 
the polls shall be kept open between the hoiu^s of six a. m. and six 
p. M., and no longer. ^G. S. 1909. § 876. > 

§ 157. Right to Vote. In all elections held for the election of 
city or school officers, or for the pui^Dose of authorizing the issu- 
ance of any bonds for school pui'poses or other pubhc improve- 
ments, the right of any citizen to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged on account of sex. and women may vote at such election 
the same as men, under hke restrictions and quahfications, and 
any woman possessing the ciualifications of a voter under this act 
shall also be elegible to anv such citv or school office. (G. S. 
1909, §877.) 

§158. Election Precincts: Officers. All cities governed by this 
act shaU be divided by the mayor and council, or. where there is a 
commissioner of elections, by such commissioner, into election 
precincts, and there shall be at least as many election precincts as 
there are wards, and no election precinct shall be made out of 
parts of any two or more wards. The polls shall be opened and 
the election held at one place in each election precinct, to be 
designated by the mayor and council, or commissioner of elections 
when there is one ; and prior to each election to be held it shall be 
the duty of the mayor, by and ^ith the consent of the council, 
or the commissioner of elections when there is one, to designate 
three persons in each election precinct, who shall be quahfied 
electors of such precinct, to act as judges at such election, and two 
persons, quahfied electors, to act as clerks : Provided. That not 
more than two of such judges and one of said clerks to be of the 
same pohtical party. (G. S. 1909, § 878.) 

§ 159. Election and Appointment of Officers. In each odd- 
numbered year there shall, in all cities of the first class, be elected 



GENERAL ELECTIOX L.\WS. 89 

a mayor, city attorney, city clerk, city treasurer, police judge, and 
one councilman from each ward, who shall hold their offices for 
two 3'ears and until their successors are elected and quahfied. In 
all cities containing more than fifty thousand inhabitants the 
mayor shall appoint a city counselor, who shall be confirmed by 
the council, and who shall hold his office for a period of two years 
imless sooner removed, and said city counselor may be removed 
at any time by the maj^or for cause, on charges preferred, and 
whose authority shall be superior to and whose duties shall be 
coextensive with those of the city attorney, and who shall per- 
form such other duties as the mayor and council shall prescribe ; 
the salary- of said city counselor shall be fixed by ordinance and 
shall not exceed two thousand five himdi'ed dollars per annmn. 
The mayor may appoint such other officers as are credited 
[created] by ordinance, who shall hold theu offices for a period 
of two years, unless sooner removed, and such officers may be 
removed at any time by the mayor without cause. All officers of 
cities of the first class having a population of more than fifty 
thousand shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by 
ordinance. There shall be thereafter elected each year one 
coimcilman from each ward, who shall hold their offices for two 
years and until their successors are elected and quahfied : Pro- 
vided, however, That the coimcilmen heretofore elected (and in 
such cities of the second class as shall become cities of the first 
class under the pro\'isions of this act) shall be continued in office 
for the unexpired term for which they were elected. In case of a 
vacancy occmTing by reason of resignation, death, or removal 
from office or from the ward in which said councilman had been 
elected, the mayor, by and with the consent of the remaining 
councilmen, may appoint some suitable elector residing in such 
ward to fill the vacancy until the next annual election for coun- 
cilmen. In all cities under fifty thousand population and over 
twenty thousand population, the mayor, by and with the consent 
of the council, may appoint a city counselor, whose salary shall 
be fixed by the ordinance of such city. (G. S. 1909, § 879.) 

§ 160. Qualification; Vacancies. All officers elected shall be 
quahfied electors of such city, and the removal from such city of 
an}^ officer shall occasion a vacancy in such office. In case of any 
vacancy occurring by death, resignation, or removal of any officer 
elected under the pro\'isions of this act, the mayor, by and with 



^ GENERAL ELECTION IAW&. 

tiie consent of the council, shall fill such vacancy by appointment, 
until the next annual city election, when some person shall be 
elected for the unexpired term. In case of any vacancy in any 
appointive office the mayor, by and with the consent of the council, 
shall fill such vacancy for the unexpired term for which his pred- 
ecessor was appointed. The clerk shall enter every appoint- 
ment to office and the date thereof on the journal. 

§ 161. Canvass of Election. The city council shall be the 
board of canvassers, and shall meet on the first Friday after the 
election to canvass the vote, and the returns of the election shall 
be made to the city clerk before that time, and by him presented 
to the board of canvassers. The persons receiving the highest 
number of votes for the various offices to be filled shall be declared 
elected, and shall receive a certificate of election under the seal of 
the city, signed by the mayor and clerk. The canvass of votes 
shall be spread on the journal, together with the result, stating 
the names of all persons declared by the canvassers to be elected, 
and the decision on each proposition voted upon ; and a neglect 
of any officer to qualify within ten days after notice of his elec- 
tion shall be deemed a refusal to accept. Whenever there shall 
be a tie in the election for any office, the city council shall de- 
termine by lot the person entitled to receive the certificate of 
election. It shall be the duty of the city clerk to preserve intact 
all ballots cast at any election for city officers for the period of 
one year after the same have been delivered to him by the judges 
of such election. (G. S. 1909, § 881.) 

§ 162. Term of Office. The term of all elective or appointive 
officers shall be two years and until their successors are elected 
and qualified. (G. S. 1909, § 882.) 

§ 163. Who Eligible. No person shall be eligible to any 
elective office unless he or she shall have been a resident of the 
city at least six months prior to the time of his or her election. 

(G. S. 1909, §8821^.) 

II. — Government by Board of Commissioners. 

§ 164. Vote at Large. All city officers elected under the pro- 
visions of this act shall be elected by vote of the people at large. 
(G. S. 1909, § 1221.) 

§ 1643/2. When Held. All elections for city officers shall be 



GENERA.L ELECTION LAWS. 94 

held on the first Tuesday in April of each odd-numbered year : 
Provided, That whenever any cit}^ of the second class shall here- 
after become a cit}' of the first class, having a population of less 
than 30,000, and which has heretofore adopted or may hereafter 
adopt the commission form of government, it shall be the duty 
of the mayor and commission of such city to immediately and 
within ten days, to call an election within thirty days from 
said call for the election of city officers to hold from the time of 
their election and qualification until their successors are elected 
and qualified as hereinafter provided ; and the then mayor and 
commission of such city shall hold ofiice only until their successors 
are elected at such special elections, and qualified : And provided 
further, That at the regular election following the first election 
after the cit}^ has become a city of the first class under the pro- 
visions of this act, there shall be submitted the question of the 
continuance of the conmiission form of government ; and it shall 
be the duty of the then mayor and commission to call the April 
election for mayor and commissioners or for mayor and council 
in accordance with the wish of the voters as expressed by a ma- 
jority at said election. f§ 1222, as amended bv L. 1911, ch. 95, 
§ 2.) 

§ 165. Hours of Voting. At all elections held under this act, 
the polls shall be kept open between the hours of six a. m. and 
seven p. m., and no longer. (G. S. 1909, § 1223.) 

§ 166. Who Qualified to Vote. In all elections held for the 
election of city or school officers, or for the purpose of authorizing 
the issuance of any bonds for school purposes, or other public 
improvements, or in the adoption or rejection of this act, and 
in all elections held under this act, the right of any citizen to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex, and women 
may vote at such elections the same as men and under like re- 
strictions and qualifications, and any woman possessing the 
quahfications of a voter under this act shall also be ehgible to 
any such city or school office. (G. S. 1909, § 1224.) 

§ 167. Election Precincts; Judges and Clerks. All cities adopt- 
ing the provisions of this act shall be divided by the board of 
commissioners, or the commissioner of elections where there is 
one, into election precincts, which shall be as nearly equal in 
population as possible, and the territory of each precinct shall 
be contiguous and compact, and shall include not to exceed eight 



92 GEXEIL\L ELECTION LAWS. 

hundred legally qualified voters. The polls shall be open and the 
election held at one place in each election precinct, to be desig- 
nated by the board of commissioners, or the commissioner of 
elections where there is one ; and prior to each election to be 
held it shall be the duty of the board of commissioners, or the 
commissioner of elections where there is one, to designate three 
persons in each election precinct, who shall be quahfied electors 
of such precinct, to act as judges at such election, and two per- 
sons, who shall be qualified electors of such precinct, to act as 
clerks at such election : Provided, That not more than two of 
such judges and one clerk shall be of the same pohtical party. 
(G. S. 1909, § 1225.) 

§ 168. Officers of Second-Class Cities. All elective or appoint- 
ive officers of any city of the second class which shall become a 
cit}^ of the first class under and by virtue of the pro\4sions of this 
act shall hold then- respective offices, except as hereinbefore pro- 
vided, until the first annual election succeeding the time when 
said city shall be declared as a city of the ffi'st class and until 
their successors are elected and quahfied, except as herein pro- 
vided by section 1222 of said statutes. (§ 1063, as amended by 
L. 191L ch. 95, § 1.) 

§ 169. Xomijiations for Office. Candidates to be voted for 
at all general municipal elections at which a mayor and four 
commissioners are to be elected under the provisions of this act 
shall be nominated by a primary election, and no other name 
shall be placed upon the general ballot except those selected in 
the manner hereinafter prescribed. The primary election for 
such nomination shall be held on the second ^Monday preceding 
the general municipal election. The judges of the election ap- 
pointed for the general municipal election shall be the judges of 
the primary election, and it shall be held in the same place so 
far as possible, and the polls shall be opened and closed at the 
same hours, and with the same clerks, as are required for said 
general municipal election. Any person desiring to become a 
candidate for mayor or commissioner shall at least ten days 
prior to said primary election file v\ith the said clerk a statement 
of such candidacy, in substantially the following form : 

State of Kansas, Couxty of , ss. 

I, , being first duly sworn, say that I reside at r, state of Kansaa; 

that I am a quahfied voter therein: that I am a candidate for the nomination to the 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 93 

office of [mayor or commissioner] to be voted upon at the primary election to be 

held upon the Monday of , 19 — , and I hereby request that my name 

be printed upon the official primary ballot for nomination by such primary election 
for Buch office. 

(Signed) — 

Subscribed and sworn to [or affirmed] before me by , on this day of 

, 19—. (Signed) ■ 



And shall at the same time file therewith the petition of at least 
twenty-five qualified voters requesting such candidacy. Each 
petition shall be verified by one or more persons as to the qual- 
ifications and residence, with street number, of each of the per- 
sons so signing the said petition, and the said petition shall be 
in substantially the following form : 

PETITION ACCOMPANYING NOMINATION STATEMENT. 

The imdersigned, duly qualified electors of the city of , and residing 

at the places set opposite our respective names hereto, do hereby request that the 
name of [name of candidate] be placed on the ballot as a candidate for nomination 
for [name of office] at the primary election to be held in such city on the Mon- 
day of , 19 — . We further state that we know him to be a quafified elector 

of said city, a man of good moral character, and qualified in our judgment for the 
duties of such office. 



Names of 
qualified electors. 



Number. 



Street. 



Immediately upon the expiration of the time for filing the 
statements and petitions for candidates, the said city clerk shall 
cause to be published for three successive days in all the daily 
newspapers published in the city, in proper form, the names of 
the persons as they are to appear upon the primary ballots, and 
if there be no daily newspapers, then in two issues of any other 
newspapers that may be published in said city; and the said 
clerk shall thereupon cause the primary ballots to be printed, 
authenticated with a facsimile of his signature. Upon the said 
ballot the names of the candidates for mayor, arranged alphabeti- 
cally, shall first be placed, with a square at the right of each name, 
and immediately above the names the words '^Vote for one.'^ 
Following these names, likewise arranged in alphabetical order, 
shall appear the names of the candidates for commissioners with 
a square at the right of each name, and above the names of such 
candidates shall appear the words ''Vote for four.'' The ballots 



M GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

shall be printed upon plain, substantial white paper, and shall be 
headed, 

CANDIDATES FOR XOMIXATIOX FOR MAYOR AND COMMISSIONERS OF CITT 

AT THE PRIMARY ELECTION, 

but shall have no party designation or mark whatever. The 
ballots shall be substantially the following form : 

(Place a cross in the square foUo-Ring the names of the parties you favor as candi- 
dates for the respective positions.) 



OFFICLAJL PRBL-VRY BALLOT. 

CANDIDATES FOR NOMINATION FOR MAYOR AND COilMISSIONERS OF 
AT THE PRIMARY ELECTION. 

For Mayor. 

(Vote for one.) 

(Names of candidates.) 

For Commissioners. 

C^'ote for four.) 

(Names of candidates.) 

Official ballot. Attest: 

(Signature) 



— , City Clerk. 

Having caused said ballots to be printed, the said cit}^ clerk 
shall cause to be delivered at each polhng-place a number of 
said ballots equal to twice the number of votes cast in such poll- 
ing precinct at the last general municipal election for mayor. 
The persons who are qualified to vote at the general municipal 
election shall be qualified to yote at such primary election, and 
all of the pro^dsions of chapter 64 of the Special Session Laws of 
1908 shall govern the conduct of said primary so far as the same 
are applicable and not inconsistent vith the pro\dsions of this 
act. The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes 
for mayor shall be the candidates and the only candidates whose 
names shall be placed upon the ballot for mayor at the next 
succeeding general municipal election, and the eight candidates 
receiving the highest number of votes for commissioner, or all 
such candidates if less than eight, shall be the candidates and the 
only candidates whose names shall be placed upon the ballot for 
commissioners at such municipal election. (G. S. 1909, § 1226.) 

§ 170. Officers to he Elected. In each odd-numbered year there 
shall be elected, in all cities of the first class adopting the pro- 
visions of this act, a mayor and four commissioners, who shall 
constitute the board of commissioners of such cities and who 
shall hold their office for a term of two years and until their 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. #5 

successors are elected and qualified. The mayor shall be the 
presiding officer of such board of connnissioners : Provided, That 
in any city which shall hereafter become a city of the first class 
having a population of less than thirty thousand which has 
heretofore adopted the commission form of government, such 
commission form of government shall continue, except as here- 
before [hereinbefore] provided, and there shall be elected at the 
special election to be called as hereinbefore provided, a mayor, 
who shall hold office until the next regular April election, and 
thereafter the mayor shall be elected annually. There shall 
be elected at the same time four commissioners, two of whom 
shall hold office until the next regular April election and two 
of whom until the second regular April election, and thereafter 
their successors shall be elected every two years. Candidates to 
be voted for at such special elections shall be named at a primary 
which shall be held on the second Monday preceding the elec- 
tion, and such primary shall be governed so far as applicable 
by the provisions of section 1226 of the General Statutes of 1909. 
(§ 1227, as amended by L. 1911, ch. 95, § 3.) 

§ 171. Board of Canvassers; Canvass of Votes. The board of 
commissioners shall be the board of canvassers, and shall meet 
on the first Friday after the election to canvass the vote, and the 
returns of the election shall Tdc made to the city clerk before that 
time and be by him presented to the board of canvassers. The 
persons receiving the highest number of votes for the various 
offices to be filled shall be declared elected, and shall receive a 
certificate of election under the seal of the city, signed by the 
mayor and clerk. The canvass of votes shall be spread on the 
journal, together with the result, stating the names of all per- 
sons declared by the canvassers to be elected, and the decision 
on each proposition voted upon ; and a neglect of any officer to 
qualify within ten days after notice of his election shall be deemed 
a refusal to accept ; whenever there shall be a tie in the election 
for any office, the board of canvassers shall determine b}^ lot the 
person entitled to receive the certificate of election. It shall be 
the dut}' of the city clerk to preserve intact all ballots cast at an}' 
election for cit}' officers for the period of one year after the same 
have been delivered to him bv the judges or clerks of such elec- 
tion. (G. S. 1909, § 1228.) 



96 GENEIL\L ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

CITIES OF SECOND CLASS. 

I. — Government by Mayor and Council. 

§ 172. Officers Elected and Appointed. There shall be elected 
on the &st Tuesday of April of each odd-numbered year a mayor, 
pohce judge, city treasurer, and treasurer of the board of educa- 
tion, together with councilmen and members of the board of edu- 
cation as hereinafter provided. The mayor shall appoint, by 
and with consent of the council, a city marshal, city clerk, city 
attorney, city assessor, and may appoint an assistant marshal, 
city engineer, street commissioner, and such pohcemen and other 
officers as they may deem necessary. Officers so appointed and 
confirmed shall hold their offices for a term of one year and until 
their successors are appointed and quahfied. The council shall 
by ordinance specify theii' duties and compensation, and by 
ordinance abohsh any office created by them whenever they may 
deem it expedient. The mayor, councilmen, members of the 
board of education, city treasurer, police judge, and treasurer of 
the board of education shall hold tl;eir offices for a term of two 
years, and all other officers for a term of one year : Provided, 
At the ffi'st annual election after the organization of any city 
there shall be two councilmen and two members of the board of 
education elected from each ward, one of whom shall serve for 
one year and one for two years, and one councilman and one 
member of the board of education shall be elected from each ward 
at each annual election thereafter : Provided, That no member of 
the board of education shall be a member of the council, nor shall 
any member of the council be a member of the board of education : 
Provided further, That any person elected to the office of justice 
of the peace may also be elected to and hold the office of police 
judge : And provided further, That in cities having a population of 
over ten thousand inhabitants the board of education shall con- 
sist of six members only, two of whom shall be elected in such 
cities on the first Tuesdav of April of each vear. fG. S. 1909, 
§ 1353.) 

§ 173. Tie Vote. AYhenever there shall be a tie in the election 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 97 

for any office, except councilman, the city council canvassing the 
returns shall determine, by lot, the person entitled to receive the 
certificate of election. (G. S. 1909, § 1354.) 

§ 174. Elections. On the first Tuesday of April of each year, 
an election shall be held by the authorities of each city governed 
by this act, for the officers of the city as in this act provided, all of 
which officers shall be elected and hold their respective offices 
until their successors are elected and qualified. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 1355.) 

§ 175. Councilmen; Number. Each ward of each city gov- 
erned by this act shall have two councilmen, who shall be chosen 
by the quahfied electors of their respective wards ; and no person 
shall be eligible to the office of councilman who is not at the time 
of his election an actual resident of the ward for which he is elected, 
and if any councilman shall remove from the ward for which he 
was elected, his office as councilman shall thereby become vacated. 
Whenever there shall be a tie in the election of councilmen, it 
shall be determined by lot by the' judges of election of the ward in 
which it shall happen ; and all vacancies shall be filled by election 
as aforesaid, in such manner as shall be provided by ordinance. 
(G. S. 1909, § 1356.) 

§ 176. Qualification of Officers. All officers elected or ap- 
pointed shall be qualified electors of said city, and the removal 
from such city of any officer shall occasion a vacancy in such office. 
Vacancies in the offices of mayor and councilmen shall be filled 
for the unexpired term at a special election to be called and held 
for that purpose, as may be provided by ordinance. Other va- 
cancies, except in the offices of justice of the peace and constable, 
shall be filled until the next annual city election by appointment 
by the mayor and council. The clerk shall enter every appoint- 
ment to office, and the date thereof, on the journal of proceedings. 
The council may require all city officers, elected or appointed, to 
take and subscribe an oath and give bonds and security for the 
faithful performance of their duties, except justices of the peace 
and constables, who shall qualifv as required by law. (G. S. 
1909, § 1357.) 

§ 177. Elections, Where Held; Judges. The places of holding 
elections, annual and special, in cities of the second class, shall be 
designated by the mayor. He shall issue a proclamation for 

—7 



98 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

every such election, gi\ing at least ten days' notice thereof, an- 
nouncing the offices to be filled or the propositions to be voted 
upon, and the place in each ward where the same is to be held ; 
and be shall also designate in each ward three electors to act as 
judges and two electors to act as clerks of such election. The 
polls shall be opened at nine (9) o'clock a. m. and closed at six (6) 
o'clock p. M. Vacancies in the offices of judge and clerk shall be 
ffiled, and all matters not provided for herein, pertaining to the 
manner of conducting such elections, shall be as provided by the 
general election laws of the state. (G. S. 1909, § 1358.) 

§ 178. Precincts, ^lienever the number of male A^oters in 
any ward of a city of the second class exceeds three hundi^ed, the 
mayor and council of said city are hereby authorized to di\ide 
said ward into election precincts. fG. S. 1909, § 1359.) 

§ 179. Board of Canvassers. The city council shall be the 
board of canvassers, and shall meet on the first Friday after the 
election to canvass the vote, and the retm'ns of the election shall 
be made to the city clerk before that time, and by him presented 
to the board of canvassers. The persons recei\dng the highest 
number of votes for the various offices to be ffiled shall be declared 
elected, and shall receive a certificate of election under the seal 
of the city, signed by the mayor and clerk. The canvass of votes 
shall be spread on the jomiial, together T^ith the result, stating 
the names of all persons declared by the canvassers to be elected, 
and the decision on each proposition voted upon ; and a neglect of 
any officer to qualify within ten days after the notice of his elec- 
tion shall be deemed a refusal to accept. CG. S. 1909, § 1360.) 

II. — Government by Board of Commissioners. 

§ 180. Election. All city officers elected under the pro\isions 
of this act shaU be elected bv a vote of the qualified electors. 
(G. S. 1909, § 1475.) 

§ 181. Time of Holding. All elections for city officers shall 
be held on the first Tuesdav in April of each vear. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 1476.) 

§ 182. Hours of Voting. At all elections held under this act 
the polls shall be kept open between the hours of seven a. m. and 
seven p. m., and no longer. (G. S. 1909, § 1477.) 



GENEIL\L ELECTIOX L.\WS. 99 

§ 183. Women May Vote. In all elections held under this act 
for the election of city officers or for the purpose of authorizing 
the issuance of any bonds for school purposes or for any other 
pubhc improvement, the right of any citizen to vote shall not be 
denied or abridged on account of sex, and women may vote at 
such elections under hke restrictions and qualifications as men, 
and any woman possessing the same quaHfications required for 
city officers imder the pro\isions of this act shall be ehgible to anv 
city office. (G. S. 1909. § 1478.) 

§ 184. Election of Mayor and Commissioners. At the annual 
election first held in cities of the second class adopting the pro- 
\dsions of this act, the mayor shall be elected for one year, and two 
commissioners, one for two years and one for three years : and 
at each annual election thereafter one of such officers shall be 
elected for a term of three years, who shall hold his office until 
his successor is elected and qualified. The mayor and the two 
commissioners shall constitute the board of commissioners of the 
city, and the mavor shall be the presiding officer of the board. 
(G. S. 1909, § 1479.J 

§ 185. Xominations for Offices; Primary. All city officers to 
be elected by the people under the pro^dsions of this act, except 
in cities of less than 10,000 population, shall be nominated at a 
primary election to be held on the second Tuesday of IMarch in 
each year. The election board of the municipal election shall be 
the election board of the city primary election. Any person de- 
siring to become a candidate for mayor or comimissioner shall, at 
least ten days prior to said primary election, file with the city 
clerk a statement of such candidacy, in substantially the follow- 
ing form : 

State of Kansas, County, ss. 

I, , being first duly sworn, say that I reside at street, city of , 

county of , state of Kansas ; that I am a candidate for nomination to the 

oflBce of [mayor or commissioner], to be voted upon at the priman* election 

to be held the second Tuesday of March, 19 — ; and I hereby request that my name 
be printed upon the official primary' ballot for nomination by such primar>- election 
for such office. 

(Signed) 

Subscribed and sworn to before me by , this day of , 19 — . 

(Signed) '- , City Clerk. 

And shall at the same time file therewith a petition signed by 
at least twenty-five qualified voters requesting such candidacy. 
Each petition shall be verified as to the quahfications and resi- 



100 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

dence of each person so signing said petition, and the said petition 
shall be in subst ant ally the following form : 

PETITION. 

The undersigned, duly qualified electors of the city of — , state of Kansas, 

residing at the places set opposite our respective names hereto, do hereby request 

that the name of be placed upon the official primary ballot as a candidate 

for the nomination for at the primary election to be held in such city on the 

second Tuesday of March, 19 — . We further state that we know him to be a quali- 
fied elector of said city, and a man of good moral character, and qualified, in our 
judgment, for the duties of such office. 

Immediately upon the expiration of the time of filing the state- 
ments and petitions for candidacies the city clerk shall cause to be 
published in the official paper and in at least one daily paper, if 
there be a daily paper pubhshed in such city, the names of the 
persons as they are to appear upon the primary ballot. Such 
publication shall be for three successive days in a daily paper and 
for two consecutive weeks in a weekly paper, and the said city 
clerk shall thereupon cause the official ballot to be printed, au- 
thenticated with a facsimile of his signature. Upon the same 
ballot the names of the candidates for mayor, alphabetically 
arranged, shall be placed first, with a square at the right of each 
name, and following the designation of the office shall be the 
words '^Vote for one," in plain black letters. Following these 
names, likewise arranged in alphabetical order, shall appear the 
names of the candidates for commissioners, with a square at the 
right of each name, and following the designation of such office 
at the first election held under this act the words ^' Vote for two,'^ 
but at all subsequent elections the words ''Vote for one "shall be 
printed in plain black letters. The ballot shall be printed upon 
plain white paper of substantial quality, and shall be headed, 

OFFICIAL PRIMARY BALLOT. 

Candidates for nomination for mayor and commissioners of city at the 

primary election held March — , 19 — , 

but there shall be no party designation or mark whatever, and 
no other names shall be placed upon the ballot except those se- 
lected in the manner hereinbefore described. Having caused 
said ballots to be printed, the said city clerk shall cause to be de- 
fivered to the election judges at the polling-places in the said 
city the same number of ballots and in the same manner as pro- 
vided by the Kansas primary-election law. All persons qualified 
to vote at the general municipal elections shall be quahfied to 
vote at the primary election, and challenges can be made by not 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 101 

more than two persons in each polling-place, to be appointed 
by the judges of election ; and the law apphcable to challenges 
at the general municipal election shall be applicable to challenges 
at such primary election. The judges of election shall immedi- 
ately upon the closing of the polls count the ballots and ascer- 
tain the number of votes cast in each precinct for each candi- 
date, and make return thereof to the city clerk, upon proper 
blanks to be furnished by the said clerk, within three hours after 
the count is concluded. On the day following the said primary 
election the city clerk shall canvass said returns so received 
from all the polling-places in the city, and shall publish in 
at least one daily newspaper in the city, if there be a daily news- 
paper in said city, on two successive days, the results thereof. 
If there be no daily newspaper published in said city, then the 
results shall be published once in some paper of general circu- 
lation in said city. Said canvass by the city clerk shall be 
publicly made. The two candidates receiving the highest num- 
ber of votes for mayor shall be the candidates, and the only 
candidates, whose names shall be placed upon the ballot for mayor 
at the next succeeding general municipal election ; and at the 
first election held under this act the four candidates, and at all 
subsequent elections the two candidates receiving the highest 
number of votes for commissioners, or all such candidates if 
there be less than four or two, as above mentioned, shall be the 
candidates and the only candidates whose names shall be placed 
upon the ballot for commissioners at such general municipal 
election. (G. S. 1909, § 1480.) 

§ 186. Laws^ Applicable. The general election and primary 
election laws of Kansas, so far as apphcable, except as herein- 
after provided, shall apply to all elections held under this act, 
but the election board for municipal elections under this act 
shall be appointed at least thirty days before the said election, 
and in selecting such election board membership in a pohtical 
party or organization shall not be considered. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 1481.) 

§ 187. Filing Statement; Particular Commissioner ship. That 
in addition to the regulations prescribed by article 11 of chapter 
18 of the General Statutes of 1909 relating to the candidacies 
of persons seeking the primary nominations for city commission- 
ers in cities of the second class it shall be necessary before the 



102 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

name of any such candidate is printed on the official primary 
ballot for him to file a statement with the city clerk setting forth 
specifically the particular commissionership to which he aspires, 
which statement shall be in substantially the following form : 

To the City Clerk of ; 

Please print my name as a candidate for the nomination for commissioner of 
finance and revenue as provided in the commission form of government in cities of 
the second class. 

(Signed) 

Or such statement may read as follows : 

To the City Clerk oj 



Please print my name as a candidate for the nomination for conmaissioner of 
streets and public utilities as provided in the commission form of government in cities 
of the second class . 

(Signed) 

— (L. 1911, ch. 184, § 1.) 

§ 188. Primary Ballot to Indicate Names, etc. It shall be 
the duty of the city clerk in preparing the official primary ballot 
to indicate clearly the names of all such candidates for the nomi- 
nations for commissioner of finance and revenue, and to indicate 
in like manner the names of all candidates for the nomination 
for commissioner of streets and public utiUties. And all candi- 
dates for the nomination for commissioner of finance and revenue 
shall be held to be candidates against each other and not be run- 
ning against the candidates for nominations for conunissioner 
of streets and public utilities. And the candidates for nomi- 
nation for commissioner of streets and public utilities shall be 
held to be candidates against each other and not to be candidates 
for the nomination of commissioner of finance and revenue. 
(L. 1911, ch. 184, § 2.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 103 

CHAPTER XII. 
CITIES OP THIRD CLASS. 

§ 189. Election of Officers; Vacancies. On the first Monday 
in April, 1903, and every two 3^ears thereafter, an election shall 
be held by the authorities of each town, village or city that falls 
under the provisions of this act, for a mayor, a poUce judge, and 
such number of councilmen as such city may be entitled to. 
The mayor, police judge and councilmen shall hold their offices 
for two years and until their successors are elected and qualified. 
Whenever a tie shall occur in the vote on any of the aforesaid 
officers, the result shall be decided by lot by the judges of elec- 
tion. In case of a vacancy occurring by reason of resignation, 
death, or removal from office or from the ward from which said 
councilmen have been elected, the mayor, by and with the ad- 
vice and consent of the remaining councilmen, shall appoint 
some suitable elector resident in such ward to fill the vacancy 
until the next election for councilmen. In case of a vacancy in 
the office of ma^^or, the president of the council shall act as mayor 
until the next regular election. (G. S. 1909, § 1514.) 

§ 190. Judges and Clerks of Election. The place of holding 
elections (except as provided in section two*) shall be designated 
by ordinance ; and the mayor shall, with the approval of the coun- 
cil, designate from the council three persons to act as judges of 
election ; and the council shall designate two citizens, not mem- 
bers of the council, to act as clerks. In case no judges or clerks 
are chosen, or if' those chosen fail to appear on the day of elec- 
tion by the hour of 8 o'clock a. m., then clerks and judges may 
be chosen by the bystanders as provided by the general election 
laws of the state. All matters not provided for herein, pertain- 
ing to the manner of conducting such election, shall be gov- 
erned by the general election laws of the state. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 1515.) 

§ 191. Board of Canvassers. The council (except as provided 
in section threef for the first election) shall be the board of can- 
vassers, and shall meet on the first Wednesday after the election 

* This section relates to the incorporation of cities of the third class. The original section has 
been amended. For the law as it now is, see § 1511, G. S. 1909. 
t General Statutes of 1909, § 1512. 



104 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

to canvass the vote, and the return of the election shall be made 
to the city clerk before that time, and by him presented to the 
board of canvassers. The persons receiving the highest number 
of votes for the various offices to be filled shall be declared elected, 
and shall receive a certificate of election under the seal of the city, 
signed by the mayor and clerk. The canvass of votes shall be 
spread on the journals, together with the result, stating the names 
of all persons declared by the canvassers to be elected. (G. S. 
1909, § 1516.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 105 

CHAPTER XIII. 

TOWNSHIP ELECTIONS. 

§ 192. Township Officers. The township election in the sev- 
eral townships shall be held on the Tuesday succeeding the first 
Monday in November, A. D. 1904, and every two years there- 
after : Provided, That the several township officers whose term 
of office would expire upon the election and qualification of their 
successors in office at the November election, A. D. 1903, shall 
continue to hold their several offices until their successors are 
elected and qualified at the election provided for in this act : 
Provided, That this shall not apply to city townships. (G. S. 
1909, §9564.) 

§ 193. Officers Elected. At the township election in each j^ear 
there shall be elected in each municipal township one trustee, 
one clerk, one treasurer, two constables (except in townships 
which are by law entitled to elect more than two justices of the 
peace, in which townships a number of constables shall be elected 
equal to the number of justices), and one road overseer"^ in each 
road district in the township. (G. S. 1909, § 9565.) 

§ 194. Justices; Ineligible. At the township election in each 
alternate year there shall be elected in each municipal township 
in the state two justices of the peace, or if the number shall have 
been increased as provided by law in any township, then such 
increased number, who shall reside and hold their offices in the 
township for which they shall have been elected : Provided, 
That no county attorney, clerk of the district court or district 
judge shall be eligible to or hold the office of justice of the peace. 
(G. S. 1909, § 9566.) 

§ 195. Vacancy. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office 
of justice of the peace in any township at the time of the annual 
township election therein, such vacancy shall be filled at said 
election. (G. S. 1909, § 9567.) 

§ 196. How Conducted. The elections herein provided for 
shall be conducted in all respects in accordance with the pro- 
visions of the general election law in force at the time of such 

*The road overseer \s not elected under the present law. See §§ 54, 58, and 59, of Manual on 
Roads and Highways, published by Crane & Co. 



^06 GENEK^L ELECTION" L.^WS. 

elections, when such pro^-isions are not in conflict T\-ith the pro- 
\'isions of this act. (G. S. 1909. § 956S.~) 

§ 197. Judges of. The trustees and any two of the justices 
of the peace herein provided for shall be judges of the election 
in their respective townships, and shall have power to appoint 
two clerks for each election and shall conduct the said election 
in all respects as other elections under the general election law ; 
and should the said ti-ustee and justices, or either of them, fail 
to meet at a place of holding the election by the hour of ten 
o'clock in the morning, then the electors present shall select 
from their number, viva voce, one or more judges of election, as 
the case may be. who shall have all the powei-s and authority 
of the judges herein mentioned : and pre^dous to receiving any 
votes the judges and clerks shall severally take and subscribe 
an oath or affiiination that they ^ill faithfully discharge the 
duties of their respective offices : which oath or affii-mation the 
judges and clerks are hereby empowered to administer to each 
other. G. S. 1909. § 9569.^^ 

§ 198. Canvass of Votes. The board of county coramission- 
ers shall constitute a board of canvassers. They shall assemble 
at the office of the county clerk in their respective counties on 
the Friday following the election provided for in this act, and 
shall proceed to canvass the votes of the several townships of 
their counties for township officers voted for. in the same manner 
as the votes for other offices are canvassed. TMien a new town- 
ship shall have been organized, and the time and place of hold- 
ing the ffi'st election therein fixed by the board of county commis- 
sioners, such board shall meet on the Friday following such elec- 
tion and canvass the vote. G. S. 1909. § 9571. ) 

§ 199. Certificates. They shall determine who have been 
elected to the several offices in each township in theii* respective 
counties, which determination they shall reduce to wiiting. and 
cause a certified copy thereof to be filed in the office of the 
county clerk : and it shall be the duty of the said county clerk 
to issue certificates of election to the persons so determined to 
be elected, and deliver or forward the same to the persons en- 
titled thereto. (G. S. 1909. § 9572.^ 

§ 200. Tie Vote. In all cases of a tie between the officers to be 
elected under this act. the county board shall determine by lot 
which shall be elected. 'G. S. 1909. § 9573. > 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 107 

§ 201. Vacancies. All vacancies in the office of trustee, clerk, 
treasurer or constable of any township shall be filled by appoint- 
ment by the board of county commissioners. (G. S. 1909, § 9574.) 

§ 202. Posted. At each annual election for electing township 
officers the township trustee shall post up in a conspicuous place 
at each voting-place in his township a certified copy of the town- 
ship treasurer's statement provided for in section 1 of this act, 
and also a certified copy of the trustee's statement required by 
section 2 of this act. These statements shall be put up at the 
opening of the polls, and in the room in which election is held, 
and shall remain in place until the polls are closed, so that all 
voters may examine them. (G. S. 1909, § 9596.) 

§ 203. Penalty. Any township treasurer or township trustee 
who shall willfully fail or refuse to make the statement or per- 
form any duty required by this act shall be deemed guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by fine of 
not more than one hundred dollars, or b}^ imprisonment in the 
county jail for not more than ninet}^ days. (G. S. 1909, § 9597.) 

§ 204. Same. If an}^ township officer or other person shall 
willfully take down, deface or destroy any notice or statement or 
copy thereof required by section 3 of this act to be posted at any 
polling-place, or shall by any means put or place such statement 
or copy out of plain view of the electors before the polls of the 
election are closed, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not to exceed one 
hundred dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail for not to 
exceed ninety days. (G. S. 1909, § 9598.) 

§ 205. Penally. If any person elected to any township office 
of whom an oath or bond [is required, shall enter upon the duties 
of such office before he shall have filed such oath or bond, he 
shall] be fined in a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars. 
(G. S. 1909, § 9618.) 

§ 206. Refusal to serve. If any person elected or appointed 
to any township office, unless unable from disease or other in- 
firmity to discharge the duties of such office, shall refuse or neg- 
lect to serve therein, he shall be liable to a fine of twent3-five 
dollars ; but no person so elected who shall have served in any 
township office for the term next preceding such election shall 
be liable to such fine for refusing to serve, if he shall have given 



108 CtExer-\l election l.\ws. 

notice in writing oi refusal to the township clerk within ten days 
after ha^-ing been notified of his election. G. S. 1909. § 9619/) 

§ 207. Refusal to Deliver. Every township officer who shaU 
after the expiration of his term of office neglect or refuse to de- 
liver on demand to his successor in office, after such successor 
shall have been duly qualified according to law. all moneys, rec- 
ords, books, papers or other property appertaining to such office, 
shall be Hable to a fine oi not less than fifty nor more than five 
hundred dollars. G. $. 1909. § 9620. ' 

§ 208. Certain Cities not Included. Xo city of more than two 
thousand inhabitants shall be included within the corporate 
limits of any township : but each of such cities shall constitute 
a township for the purpose of electing justices of the peace and 
constables as provided id this act. and for the exercise of the 
powers and jurisdiction of such officers, as prescribed by law. 
In such cities said officers shall be eleeted at the regular city 
election. G. S. 1909. ? 9621.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 109 

CHAPTER XIV. 
SCHOOL ELECTIONS. 

§ 209. Board of Education in Certain Cities. That in each 
cit}^ of the first and second class except those cities ha\dng a 
population of more than 50,000 and less than 75,000 by the United 
States census of 1910, there shall be a board of education, which 
shaU constitute a body corporate and politic possessing the usual 
powers of pubUc corporations consisting of six members, to be 
nominated and elected by the qualified voters of the city at large, 
three of whom shall be elected at the general city election held 
in April of each odd-numbered year, and shall hold their office 
for the term of four years, and until their successors are duly 
elected and qualified, and said term of office shall begin on the 
first Monday in August, succeeding their election: Provided^ 
That no member of the board of education shaU be a city com- 
missioner or member of the city council, and no city conuxiis- 
sioner or member of the city council shall be a member of the 
board of education. The territory attached to cities of the first 
and second class shall constitute a part of such city for the pur- 
poses of this act. (L. 1911, ch. 268, § 1.) 

§ 210. Term of Office. That in cities of the first and second 
class as pro\dded in this act in which at the time of the passage 
of this act the board of education consists of six members, there 
shall be elected at the general city election in 1911, three mem- 
bers, who shall hold their office for a term of four years from the 
first Monday in August, 1911, and at the general election in 
1913 there shall be elected three additional members, who shall 
hold their office for a term of four years from the first Mon- 
day in August, 1913, and thereafter at the general election in 
each odd-numbered year there shall be elected three members 
for a term of four years : Provided, That those members of 
the board of education at the time of the passage of this act 
whose term of office expires the first Monday in May, 1911, 
shall continue to serve as members of the board of education 
until the first Monday in August, 1911, and those members of 
the board of education whose term of office does not expire on 
or before the first Monday in August, 1911, shall serve in con- 



110 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

nection with the board of education until the expiration of the 
term for which they were elected : Provided, That the mem- 
bers whose term of office expires the first Monday in May or 
in August, 1912, shall continue to serve in connection with the 
other members until the first Monday in August, 1913. There- 
after the board of education shall consist of six members, elected 
as provided in section 1* of this act : Provided further, That in 
cities of the first and second class in which at the time of the 
passage of this act the board of education consists of twelve mem- 
bers, there shall be elected at the general city election in the year 
1911, a full board of six members, who shall be divided into two 
classes of three each. Of the six members elected the three 
receiving the highest number of votes cast shall serve for four 
years, the three receiving the next highest number of votes cast 
shall serve for a period of two years, and thereafter three mem- 
bers shall be elected for a term of four years in each odd-numbered 
year : Provided, That those members of the board of education 
at the time of the passage of this act whose term of office expires 
the first Monday in May, 1911, shall continue to serve as mem- 
bers of the board of education until August, 1911, and those 
members whose term of office does not expire on or before the 
first Monday in August, 1911, shall serve in connection with 
the board of education for the year ending on the first Monday 
in August, 1912, after which the board shall consist of six mem- 
bers, elected as provided in section 1 of this act : Provided further. 
That in cities of the first and second class, in which at the time 
of the passage of this act the board of education consists of ten 
members, there shall be elected at the general election in 1911, 
three members, who shall hold their office for a term of four years 
from the first Monday in August, 1911, and at the general elec- 
tion in 1913 there shall be elected three additional members, whose 
term of office shall be four years from the first Monday in Au- 
gust, 1913, and thereafter there shall be elected three members 
of the board of education for a term of four years at the general 
election each odd-numbered year : Provided, That the members 
whose term of office expires on the first Monday of May, 1911, 
shall serve as members of the board until the first Monday of 
August, 1911, and those members whose term of office expires 
on the first Monday of May or August, 1912, shall continue to 
serve in connection with the three members elected as herein- 

♦Preceding section. 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 111- 

before provided until the first Monday in August, 1913. There- 
after the board of education shall consist of six members elected 
as pro\dded in section 1 of this act : Provided further, That in 
cities of the first and second class, in which at the time of the 
passage of this act the board of education consists of eight mem- 
bers, there shall be elected at the general election in 1911 three 
members, who shall hold their office for a term of four years from 
the fii'st ]\Ionday in August. 1911, and at the general election 
in 1913 there shall be elected three additional members, who shall 
hold their office for a term of four years from the first ^Monday 
in August. 1913. and thereafter there shall be elected three mem- 
bers for a term of four years at the general election each odd-num- 
bered year : Provided, That the members whose term of office 
expires the first ^Monday in May, 1911, shall continue to serve 
as members of the board of education until the first IMonday in 
August, 1911, and those members whose term of office expires 
the first [Monday in ]\lay or August, 1912. shall continue to serve 
in connection with the three members elected as herein provided 
until the first [Monday in August. 1913, and thereafter the board 
of education shall consist of six members, elected as pro^-ided in 
section 1 of this act. fL. 1911, ch. 268. § 2.) 

§ 211. Vacancies. That the board of education shall have 
power to fiU any vacancy which may occur in their body : Pro- 
vided, That any vacancy occurring more than ten days previous 
to the date provided by law for the filing of primary nonfination 
papers and leaving an unexpired term of one or more 3'ears shall 
be filled at the first cit}^ election thereafter, and the ballots and 
returns of election shall be designated as follows: ''To ffil the 
unexpired term of years." (L. 1911. ch. 268, § 3.) 

§ 212. Board of Education in Cities Governed by Commissioners. 
That in all cities of the first and second class which have hereto- 
fore adopted or shall hereafter adopt the pro^dsions of the General 
Statutes of the year 1909 authorizing the government of such 
cities by boards of commissioners, candidates for nomination at 
the primary and for election as members of the board of educa- 
tion shall be nominated and elected in the same manner as nearly 
as practicable as are the mayor and commissioners in such cities, 
and may be recalled in like manner. The number of members 
to be elected at each general city election shall be certified to the 
city clerk by the president or clerk of the board of education at 



112 GEXER.\L ELECTION L.\WS. 

least ten days previous to the date provided by law as the last day 
for filing primary nomination papers. The names of all candi- 
dates shall appear in alphabetical order on the official city priman^ 
ballot in a separate column under the heading '"Candidate-s for 

nomination for members of the board of education of City 

at the primary election." and above the names the words "Vote 

for ." filling in the blank v^ith the figiu'e equalling the 

number of members of the board of education to be chosen at 
the regular election. The names of double the number of mem- 
bers of the board to be elected receiving the highest number of 
votes at the primary election shall be placed upon the ballot as 
candidates for members of the board of education at the next^ 
succeeding general city election. The persons receiving the 
highest number of votes at such regular city election shall be de- 
clared elected, and each shall receive a certificate signed by the 
mayor and city clerk, under the seal of the city. Each person 
elected shall qualify within ten days after his election by filing an 
oath of office T^ith the city clerk, but he shall not take office until 
the first Monday in August succeeding his election. The city 
clerk shall within thirty days after the canvass of the votes certify 
to the board of education the names of the candidates elected as 
members of such board. .\ny petition for nomination for mem- 
ber of the board of education filed prior to the date on which this 
act goes into efl>ct and comphing Vvith the law in efi'ect at the 
time of fifing said petition, is hereby declared to be legal. 'L. 
1911. ch. 268. §5. 

§ 213. Annual School Meeting. That an annual school meet- 
ing of each school district, of each consohdated school district, of 
each imion or graded school district, and of each school district 
for which the date of the annual meeting has been fixed by a 
special act of the legislature, shall be held on the second Friday in 
April in each year, at two o'clock p. m. Xotice of the time and 
place of said annual meeting shall be given by the clerk by post- 
ing written or printed notices in three pubhc places within the 
district at least ten days before said meeting. Special meetings 
may be called by the district board or upon a petition signed by 
ten legal voters of the district, but notice of such special meet- 
ing, stating the purpose for which it is caUed, shall be posted in at 
least three pubfic places within such district ten days pre^'ious to 
the time of such meeting : Provided. That the annual school 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 113 

meeting for union or graded school districts comprising the terri- 
tory of two or more school districts shall be held at two o'clock 
p. M. on the Thursday immediately preceding the second Friday 
in April in each year. (L. 1911, ch. 283, § 1.) 

§ 214. Annual Meeting; Special Meeting. An annual meet- 
ing of each school district shall be held on the third Thursday in 
July in each year, at two o'clock p. m., except that in all school 
districts in which is located a city of the third class the annual 
meeting shall be held on the second Friday in April in each year, 
at two o'clock p. M. Notice of the time and place of said annual 
meeting shall be given by the clerk by posting \\Titten or printed 
notices in three public places within the district at least ten days 
before said meeting. Special meetings maj^ be called by the 
district board or upon a petition signed by ten resident taxpayers 
of the district, but notice of such special meeting, stating the 
purpose for which it is called, shall be posted in at least three 
pubHc places within such district ten days previous to the time of 
such meeting. (G. S. 1909, § 7402.) 

§ 215. Called Meeting. Whenever the time for holding an 
annual meeting in any district shall pass without said meeting 
being held, the clerk, or, in his absence, any other member of the 
district board, Tsdthin twenty days after the time for holding said 
annual meeting shall have passed, ma}^ give notice of a special 
meeting by putting up T\Titten notices thereof in three pubhc 
places "^-ithin the district, at least five days previous to the time of 
meeting ; but if such meeting shall not be notified ^nthin twenty 
days as aforesaid, the county superintendent may give notice of 
such meeting in the manner pro\dded for forming new districts ; 
and the officers chosen at such special meeting shall hold their 
offices until the next annual meeting, and until their successors 
are elected and quahfied. (G. S. 1909, § 7403.) 

§ 216. Notice of Meeting. It shall be the duty of the clerk to 
give at least ten days' notice pre\dous to any annual or special 
district meeting, by posting up notices thereof at three or more 
public places in the district, one of which notices shall be affixed 
to the outer door of the school-house, if there be one in the dis- 
trict ; and said clerk shall give the like notice of every adjourned 
meeting, when such meeting shall have been adjourned for a 
longer period than one month. Every notice for a special district 



114 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

meeting shall specify the objects for which such meeting is called, 
and no business shall be acted upon at any special meeting not 
specified in said notice. (G. S. 1909, § 7404.) 

§ 217. Qualified Electors. The following persons shall be en- 
titled to vote at any district meeting : First, all persons possessing 
the quahfications of electors as defined by the constitution of the 
state, and who shall have been in good faith residents of the dis- 
trict for thirty days next prior to the time of offering to vote at 
said election; second, all female persons over the age of twenty- 
one years, not subject to the disquahfications named in section 
second, article fifth of the constitution of the state, and who shall 
be residents in good faith of the districts for thirty days next 
prior to the time of offering to vote at said election. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 7405.) 

§ 218. Meeting. The annual meeting of said union school 
district shall be held on the second Wednesday in June, at two ■ 
o'clock p. M., and it shall have such general powers and duties as 
are provided bv law for annual school-district meetings. (G. S. 
1909, §7436.)" 

§ 219. Challenged. If any person offering to vote at a school- 
district meeting shall be challenged as unquahfied by any legal 
voter, the chairman presiding shall declare to the person chal- 
lenged the quahfications of a voter, and if such challenge be not 
withdrawn, the chairman, who is hereby authorized, shall tender 
to the person offering to vote the folloT^ing oath or affirmation : 
■^^You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you are an actual resi- 
dent of this school district, and that you are quahfied by law to 
vote at this meeting.'' Any person taking such oath or affirma- 
tion shall be entitled to vote on all questions voted upon at such 
meeting. (G. S. 1909, § 7406.) 

§ 220. Powers of District Meeting. The inhabitants quali- 
fied to vote at a school meeting lawfully assembled shall have 
power: First, to appoint a chairman to preside over said meet- 
ing in the absence of the director ; second, to adjourn from time 
to time ; third, to choose a director, clerk and treasurer, who 
shall possess the quahfications of voters ; fourth, to designate by 
vote a site for a district school-house ; fifth, to vote a sum an- 
nually not exceeding the limit fixed by law, as the meeting shall 
deem sufficient, for the varioiis school purposes and for the pay- 



GENERAL ELECTIOX LAWS. 115 

ment of any floating indebtedness of the district, and distribute 
the amount as the meeting shall deem proper in the pa^Tnent of 
teachers' wages, and to pm-chase or lease a site (provided, when 
not included within the limits of a town or tillage, said site shall 
not contain less than one acre), and to build, hire or purchase 
such school-house, and to keep in repair and fm-nish the same with 
the necessar}' fuel and appendages, and to pay any floating in- 
debtedness of the school district ; sixth, to authorize and direct 
the sale of any school-house, site -or other property belonging to 
the district when the same shall not longer be needful for the use 
of the district ; seventh, to give such direction and make such 
provision as may be deemed necessary in relation to prosecution 
or defense of any suit or proceedings in which the district may 
be a party. (G. S. 1909, § 7407.) 

§ 221. School Term. The quahfied voters at each annual 
meeting or any special meeting duly called, may determine the 
length of time a school shall be taught in their district for the 
ensuing year, which shall not be less than three months, and 
whether the school money to which the district may be entitled 
sbaU be apphed to the support of the simimer or T^inter term of 
school, or a certain portion of each ; but if such matters shall 
not be determined at the annual or any special meeting, it shall 
be the duty of the district board to determine the same. (G. S. 
1909, § 7408.) 



116 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTER XV. 
COUNTY-SEAT ELECTIONS. 

§ 222. Election may he Contested. Whenever any elector or 
electors of any county, township or municipal corporation in this 
state shall consider themselves aggrieved by the result of any 
election hereafter held for removing, locating, estabhshing or 
relocating the county seat of such county, or upon the question 
of issuing the bonds or loaning the credit of said county, town- 
ship or municipal corporation, or for the sale or transfer of any 
stock or other property owned or held by said county, township, 
or municipal corporation, as said result may have been or shall 
be declared by the proper board of canvassers, or if any such 
elector or electors shall consider himself or themselves aggrieved 
by the failure or refusal of any board of canvassers to canvass the 
votes returned from any precinct or precincts as having been 
cast at any election held for any or either of the purposes here- 
inbefore named, such election may be contested in the district 
court of the proper county, as hereinafter provided. (G. S. 
1909, § 3236.) 

§ 223, Mandamus. After any county-seat election shall have 
been held, and the time for canvassing the votes and declaring 
the result shall have elapsed, whether any canvass of votes has 
been or shall be made, and the result declared, or not, if any county 
ofhcer shall hold and keep his office at any town, city or place 
other than that which the person or persons aggrieved shall claim 
to have received a majority of all the legal votes cast at such 
election, such person or persons may institute proceedings to 
obtain a writ of mandamus to compel such county officer to re- 
move his office, and the books, papers and records thereof, and 
to hold and keep the same in such town, city or place as such 
person or persons may claim to be the county seat of said county. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3237.) 

§ 224. The Same. Whenever any election shall be held for 
the purpose of authorizing any county, township or municipal 
corporation to issue its bonds or loan its credit, or for the pur- 
pose of authorizing the sale or transfer of any stock or other 
property owned and held by such county, township, or municipal 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 117 

corporation, and the canvassers shall determine and proclaim the 
proposition or propositions, or any of them, involved in such 
election, to have been lost, any person or persons aggrieved 
by such determination may proceed to obtain a writ of man- 
damus to compel the proper municipal authorities to issue the 
bonds, loan the credit, or make the sale or transfer of the stock 
or other property of said county, township, or municipal corpo- 
ration. (G. S. 1909, § 3238.) 

§ 225. Parties; Style of Action. In all proceedings by or on 
mandamus, the person or persons commencing the action shall 
be known as the relator or relators ; and the person or persons 
against whom such proceeding is instituted shall be designated 
as the defendant or defendants. The style of the action shall be, 

^'The state of Kansas, upon the relation of (naming the 

relator), against " (naming the defendant); and the 

practice in proceedings upon mandamus, prescribed by the code 
of civil procedure, shall govern in cases authorized by this act ; 
and the relator shall be liable for costs, and judgment given 
against him therefor, in like manner as if the action were in his 
name as plaintiff. (G. S. 1909, § 3239.) 

§ 226. Injunction. Whenever after any election held for any 
purpose mentioned in the first section of this act, the board of 
canvassers shall declare any town, city or place to have received 
a majority of the votes cast for the county seat, or that any ques- 
tion or proposition voted upon at such election to have been 
adopted, any elector or electors of the proper county, township 
or municipal corporation who may be aggrieved thereby may 
commence an action in the district court of the proper county 
to perpetually enjoin any county officer from moving his office 
to the city, township or place so by said board declared to be 
the county seat, or to enjoin and restrain the proper officer or 
officers of such county, township or municipal corporation from 
executing, issuing or delivering any bond or bonds, certificate 
or certificates, evidencing or importing any debt or liability, or 
promise to pay, of such county, township or municipal corpo- 
ration, or from subscribing any stock for, or from loaning the 
credit of such county, township or municipal corporation, or 
from selling or transferring any stock or other property of such 
county, township or municipal corporation. (G. S. 1909, § 3240.) 

§ 227. Pleadings and Practice. In all actions of injunction 



118 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

brought under the provisions of this act, the practice, pleadings 
and proceedings shall be in accordance with the rules prescribed 
in article twelve of the code of civil procedure, so far as the same 
may be appHcable ; but no preliminary or temporary injunction 
shall be allowed or granted by other than the district court or 
the judge thereof : Provided, however, That in case of the ab- 
sence of said judge from his district, or his illness, or inabihty 
to act, any other district judge in the state, or the chief justice 
or any associate justice of the supreme court, may grant a tempo- 
rary injunction in like manner and with the same force and effect 
and none other, as temporary injunctions granted by the judge 
of the proper district court. (G. S. 1909, § 3241.) 

§ 228. Validity of Election. In any action or proceeding 
commenced in accordance with the provisions of this act, the 
validity of the election upon which the relator bases his right 
to a writ of mandamus to compel the performance of a supposed 
official duty, or the plaintiff his right to enjoin or restrain the 
defendant or defendants from doing or committing the act 
threatened, proposed or apprehended, shall be tried and deter- 
mined; and the validity of any vote or votes cast or counted, 
or offered and refused, at such election, which vote or votes shall 
be designated in the petition or answer, shall also be determined ; 
and every illegal vote cast or counted shall be rejected by the 
court, and every legal vote so offered and refused shall be counted 
by the court : Provided, however, That in no case shall the validity 
of any election be inquired into beyond the one last had and upon 
which the proceeding is based : And 'provided further. That all 
appeals from the judgment of the court upon proceedings insti- 
tuted under this act shall be taken within sixty days from the 
date of its rendition. (G. S. 1909, § 3242.) 

§ 229. Illegal Vote, How Stated. No relator, plaintiff or de- 
fendant shall name or designate any vote in his petition or an- 
swer as illegal or fraudulent unless he verily believes the same 
to be illegal or fraudulent ; and he shall give the name and num- 
ber of each alleged illegal or fraudulent voter and vote as the 
same shall appear on the poll list, and shall designate the town- 
ship, ward or precinct in or from which said vote was cast or 
returned ; and every petition or answer shall be verified by the 
affidavit of the relator, plaintiff or defendant making such pe- 
tition or answer, which affidavit shall state that the affiant be- 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 119 

lieves all the matters and things therein alleged and stated to be 
true. (G. S. 1909, § 3243.) 

§ 230. Trial; Findings; Judgment. In cases tried and de- 
termined under this act the court shall make a specific finding 
of facts established by the evidence, his conclusions of law thereon, 
and shall give judgment as the very right of the case shall re- 
quire ; and shall award or refuse a peremptory mandamus, or 
decree or deny a perpetual injunction, as shall be just and proper. 
The findings of facts and conclusions of law shall be entered at 
length on the journal immediately before the judgment given 
thereon. Exceptions may be taken and entered, bills of ex- 
ceptions made and settled, and appeals taken to the supreme 
court in like manner as in other cases. (G. S. 1909, § 3244.) 

§ 231. Costs. The court shall in every action commenced 
under this act require the plaintiff or relator to give good and 
sufficient security for costs. (G. S. 1909, § 3245.) 



120 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTER XVI. 
CANVASS OF THE VOTES. 

§ 232. Canvass Votes. On the Friday next following the elec- 
tion the county clerk and the commissioners of the county, or a 
majority of said commissioners, at ten o'clock a. m. of said day, 
shall meet at the office of said county clerk, and shall proceed to 
open the several returns which shall have been made to that 
office ; and said commissioners shall determine the persons who 
have received the greatest number of votes in the county, for the 
several county, district and state officers, and members of the 
senate and house of representatives, representative in congress, 
and electors of president and vice-president of the United States, 
except in cases where there are qualified electors of the county 
absent from their voting precincts in the military service, when 
the canvass of the vote for county officers shall be postponed 
until the third Monday in December next following, as con- 
templated by section sixty-six [fifty -five] of article five [four] of 
this chapter ; and such determination shall be reduced to writing 
and signed by said commissioners aril attested by the clerk, and 
shall be annexed to the abstract of votes given for such officers, 
respectively, hereinafter provided for in section forty-one [thirty- 
one] of this act. [G. S. 1909, § 3137.) 

§ 233. Highest Number of Votes Elect. In all elections for the 
choice of any officer, unless it is otherwise expressly provided, the 
person having the highest number of votes for any office shall be 
deemed to have been elected to that office ; and whenever it shall 
satisfactorily appear that any person has received the highest 
number of votes for any office, such person shall receive the 
certificate of election, notwithstanding the provisions of law may 
not have been fully complied with in noticing and conducting the 
election, so that the real will of the people may not be defeated 
by any informality of any officer. (G. S. 1909, § 3138.) 

§ 234. Tie Vote. If any two or more persons have an equal 
number of votes for the same county office, and a higher number 
than any other person, the commissioners aforesaid shall proceed 
to determine by lot which of the two candidates shall be elected. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3139.) 



GEXEIL\L ELECTIOX L.\WS. 121 

§ 235. Abstracts of Votes. As soon as the commissioners afore- 
said shall have determined the persons who have received the 
highest number of votes for any office, the county clerk shall 
make out abstracts of the votes in the foUowing manner : 

First, The abstract of votes for governor, Ueutenant -governor, 
secretars^ of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney- 
general, superintendent of pubhc instruction and justice (or 
justices) of the supreme court shall be on one sheet. 

Second, The abstract of votes for a judge or judges of the dis- 
trict court, on one sheet. 

Third, The abstract of votes for member or members of the 
senate and house of representatives, on one sheet. 

Fourth, The abstract of votes for a representative in congress, 
on one sheet. 

Fifth, The abstract of votes for electors of president and ^ice- 
president of the United States, on one sheet. 

Sixth, The abstract of votes for county officers, on one sheet. 

Which abstracts being certffied and signed b}' the county clerk 
shall be deposited in his office, and certified copies of abstracts, 
nimibered one, two, thi-ee, fom' and five (when said officers have 
been voted for at said election), under the official seal of said clerk, 
and shall be placed in separate envelopes, indorsed, and du-ected 
to the secretary of state, and foiTS'arded immediately to the seat 
of government, by mail : and the said clerk shall, respectively, 
indorse on the back of the envelope in which the said certified 
copies are inclosed, "'* Certified copy of the abstract of votes cast 
for governor,'' etc., ''Members of the legislature (as the case may 

be), cast at the regular election in count v. 19 — .'' 'G. S. 

1909, § 3 140. J . 

§ 236. Certificate. The said county clerk shall iimnediately 
make out. in pursuance of the determination of such county com- 
missioners, a certificate of election for each person having the 
highest number of votes for any county office, or, in case of a tie, 
who have been decided elected by lot, and deliver the same to the 
person, upon his making application therefor. (G. S. 1909, 
§3141.) 

§ 237. Deputy Discharge Duties. Whenever it shall so happen 
that the county clerk shall die, be absent, or from any casualty 
be prevented from opening the returns of votes at any election, 
it shall be lawful for his deputy to discharge the duties required by 



122 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

such clerk by law ; which deputy shall be appointed by a majority 
of the county commissioners, when said clerk has failed to appoint 
a deputy. (G. S. 1909, § 3142.) 

§238. State Canvassers. The governor, secretary of state, 
auditor of state, treasurer of state, and attorney-general, or any 
three of them, shall constitute the board of state canvassers. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3143.) 

§ 239. Duty of Secretary of State. The secretary of state, 
upon the receipt of the certified abstracts of the votes given in the 
several counties, directed to be sent to him, shall proceed to open 
the same, and shall record the same in a suitable book to be kept 
by him for that purpose, and shall file and carefully preserve in 
his office said abstracts and the original envelopes in which they 
were inclosed. (G. S. 1909, § 3144.) 

§ 240. If no Abstract he Received. If from any county no such 
abstract of votes shall have been received within twenty-five 
days next after any election by the secretary of state, he shall dis- 
patch a special messenger to obtain a copy of the same from the 
county clerk of such county; and such clerk shall immediately 
on demand of such messenger, make out and deliver to him the 
copy required ; which copy of the abstract of votes the messenger 
shall deliver to the secretary of state without delay, to be recorded 
by him as aforesaid. (G. S. 1909, § 3145.) 

§ 241. State Canvassers. For the purpose of canvassing the 
result of elections the state board of canvassers shall meet at the 
office of the secretary of state on the Monday preceding the last 
Wednesday in November next after the election, when they shall, 
upon the certified abstracts on file in the office of secretary of 
state, proceed to examine and make statement of the whole num- 
ber of votes given at any such election for state officers, justices of 
the supreme and judges of the district courts, the members of the 
senate and house of representatives, representatives in congress, 
and electors of president and vice-president of the United States, 
or for so many of said officers as may have been voted for at such 
election, which statement shall show the names of the persons to 
whom such votes shall have been given for either of the said offices, 
and the whole number given to each, distinguishing the several 
districts and counties in which they were given ; they shall certify 
such statements to be correct, and subscribe their names thereto, 



GENERAL ELECTIOX L-\WS. 123 

and they shall thereupon determine what persons have been, by 
the greatest nimiber of votes, duly elected to such offices, or either 
of them, and shall indorse and subscribe on such statement a 
certificate of such determination, and determine and dehver them 
to the secretary- of state. (G. S. 1909,, §3116.) 

§ 242. Tie Vote. If any two or more persons have an equal 
niunber of votes for any state office, except governor and heu- 
tenant-governor, or for member of the senate and house of repre- 
sentatives, and a higher nmnber than any other person, the state 
canvassers shall proceed to determine by lot. in presence of the 
candidates, which of the two candidates shall be elected. Reason- 
able notice shall be given to such candidates of the time when 
such election will be so determined: and if such candidates or 
either of them shall fail to appear in accordance with said notice, 
then the state canvassers shall proceed so to determine said elec- 
tion in the absence of the candidates. (G. S. 1909,. § 3147.) 

§ 243. Statemeyit Recorded; Certificate. The secretary of state 
shall record in his office, in a book to be kept by him for that pur- 
pose, each certffied statement and determination as made by the 
board of state canvassers, and shall without delay make out and 
transmit, to each of the persons thereby declared to be elected, a 
certificate of his election, certified by him under his seal of office : 
and he shaU also forthwith cause a copy of such certified state- 
ment and deteimination to be pubhshed in a newspaper pubhshed 
at the seat of government. (Qr. S. 1909, § 314S. i 

§ 244. List of Members Elected. Upon the day fixed by law 
for the assembhng of the legislature, the secretary of state shaU 
lay before each house a hst of members elected thereto, with the 
districts they represent, in accordance with the retiu'ns in his 
office. (G. S. 1909, § 3149.; 

§ 245. Tii'o Hou^ses may Determine Election. If any two or 
more persons have an ecjual number of votes for the same office, 
except as provided in section thu'ty-eight of tins act. and a higher 
number than any other person, the two houses shall, by joint 
ballot, determine the election : and the president of the senate 
and the speaker of the house of representatives shall deposit in 
the office of the secretary of state a certificate showing what 
persons have been elected to fill said offices. (G. S. 1909, § 3150.) 

§ 246. Electors. The secretary- of state shall prepare a hst of 



124 GENERAL ELECTIOX Lu\WS. 

the names of the electors of president and ^ice-president of the 
United States, elected at any election, procure thereto the signa- 
ture of the governor, affix the seal of the state to the same, and 
dehver such certificate, thus signed, to one of said electors on or 
before the first Wednesday in December, next after such election. 
(G. S. 1909, §3151.1 

§ 247. Meeting. The electors of president and vice-president 
of the United States shaU convene at the capital of the state on the 
second IMonday of January after their election, at the hour of 
twelve o'clock at noon of that day : and if there shall be any 
vacancy in the office of electors, occasioned by death, refusal to 
act. neglect to attend, or other cause, the electors present shall 
immediately proceed to fill, by ballot and by a plurality of votes, 
such vacancy in the electoral college : and when the electors shall 
appear, or the vacancies shaU have been filled as above provided, 
they shall proceed to perform the duties reciuired of such electors 
bv the constitution and laws of the United States. (G. S. 1909, 
§^3152.) 

§ 248. Compensation. Every elector of the state for the elec- 
tion of president and ^ice-president of the United States who shall 
attend and give his A'ote for those officers at the time and place 
appointed by law. shaU be entitled to receive the sum of thi^ee 
dollars per day for each day's attendance at stich election, and 
fifteen cents per mile for each mile he shall travel in going to and 
returning from the place where the electors shall meet, by the 
most usual route of travel, to be paid out of the state treasiuy. 
(G. S. 1909. § 3153.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 125 

CHAPTER XVII. 
CONTESTED ELECTIONS. 

§ 249. Contest of Election. Any candidate or elector, being de- 
sirous of contesting the election of any person declared elected 
governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, auditor of 
state, treasurer of state, attorney-general, superintendent of 
public instruction, justices of the supreme court, or judges of 
the district court, shall, between the sixth and tenth days of 
the first session of the legislature after the day of election, file 
a notice of such intention with the secretary of the senate, specify- 
ing the particular points on which he means to rely : Provided, 
That no person shall contest the election of district judge unless 
he be an elector of the proper judicial district. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3195.) 

§ 250. Day for Hearing Contest. Upon any such notice being 
filed as aforesaid, the senate shall by resolution determine on 
what day or days they will meet in their chamber, in order to 
hear and determine any such contest ; and thereupon a certified 
copy of the notice filed by any contestor shall be served upon the 
contestee whose election is sought to be contested, or by leav- 
ing a copy thereof at his last or usual place of residence, by such 
person as shall by resolution be. appointed, with a notice when 
he is required to attend in the senate chamber to answer the con- 
test. (G. S. 1909, § 3196.) 

§ 251. Testiniony. On the trial of any contested election for 
any of the officers in the first section of this act named, the parties 
to such contest may introduce either written or oral testimony ; 
but no depositions shall be read on such trial unless the opposite 
party shall have had reasonable notice of the time and place 
of taking the same. (G. S. 1909, § 3197.) 

§ 252. Rules. In conducting any contested election for offices 
in the first section of this act named, the following rules shall be 
observed, to wit : 

First. On the day and at the hour appointed for that pur- 
pose, the senate, with its proper officers, shall convene at its 
usual place of meeting. 



126 C-EXTRAL ELECTION 1-^.^5. 

Seco' :. The president of the senate shall preside : but when 
he is the contestee the senate shall elect a president pro tern. 

Tfiird. The parties to the contest shall then be called by the 
secretary of the senate, and ii they answer their appearance shall 
be recorded. 

Fouiih. The contest or shaU first introduce his testimony, and 
then the contestee shall introduce his ; and after the testimony 
is gone through on both sides, the contestor may. by himself 
or by his counsel, open the contest : and the contestee may then 
proceed, by hiniseK or counsel, to make his defense, and the con- 
testor be heard in reply. 

Fifth. Alter the arguments are thus gone through by the 
parties, any member of the senate shall be at liberty to offer 
his reasons for the vote he intends to give. 

Sixth. The secretary of the senate shall keep a regular jour- 
nal of the proceedings. 

The manner of taking the decision shall be by a caU of the 
members, and a majority of all the votes given shall decide ; 
the president of the senate when acting as governor, the person 
holding the seat, or contestor. not being permitted to vote either 
upon the final decision or upon the pre limin ary questions that 
have any reference thereto. 'G. S. 1909. § 319S. 

§ 253. Of Senator or Representative. The election of any per- 
son declared duly elected as a senator, or member of the house 
of representatives, may be contested by any qualified voter of 
the cotmty or district to be represented by such senator or rei>- 
resentative. G. S. 1909. § 3199.~ 

§'254. Statement. The contestor shall, within thirty days 
after the declaration of the canvassers, serve on the contestee 
a statement as hereinafter required in relation to cotmty officers, 
except the hst of iQegal votes, which shaU be served with the 
notice of ta kin g depositions relative to them : and if no depo- 
sitions are taken, then twentv davs before the hearing:. G. S. 
1909, §3200.) 

§ 255. Suhpcenas; Depositions. The probate judge may issue 
subpoenas m the above cases, and shaU have power to compel 
the attendance of witnesses : and depositions may be taken imder 
the rules for takiag depositions ia the district cotuT:s. ''G. S. 
1909. 5 3201. 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 127 

§ 256. How Taken. A copy of the statement and of the 
notices for taking depositions, with the service indorsed and 
verified by affidavit, if not served by an officer, shall be returned 
to the ofiicer taking the deposition, and then with the depositions 
shall be sealed up and transmitted by mail, or by the hands of a 
sworn ofl&cer, to the secretary of state, with an indorsement 
thereon showing the nature of the papers, the names of the con- 
testing parties, and the branch of the legislature before which 
the contest is to be tried. (G. S. 1909, § 3202.) 

§ 257. Disposition of, etc. The secretary of state shall de- 
fiver the same, unopened, to the presiding officer of the house 
in which the contest is to be tried, on or before the second day 
of the session of the legislature next after taking the depositions ; 
and the presiding officer shall immediately give notice that such 
papers are in his possession. (G. S. 1909, § 3203.) 

§ 258. Commissions to Take. Nothing herein contained shall 
be construed to abridge the right of either branch of the legis- 
lature to grant commissions to take depositions, or to send for 
and examine any witness it may desire to hear on such trial. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3204.) 

§ 259. Causes for Contest. The election of any person declared 
duly elected to any county office may be contested by any elector 
of the county — 

First, For malconduct, fraud or corruption on the part of the 
judges of election in any township, or of any of the boards of 
canvassers, or on the part of any member of either of those 
boards. 

Second, When the contestee was not eligible to the office at 
the time of the election. 

Third, When the contestee has been convicted of an infamous 
crime before the election, and the judgment has not been re- 
versed, annulled, or set aside, nor the contestee pardoned, at the 
time of the election. 

Fourth, When the contestee has given or offered any elector 
or any judge, clerk or canvasser of the election any bribe or re- 
ward, in money, property or thing of value, for the purpose of 
procuring his election. 

Fifth, When illegal votes have been received, or legal votes 
rejected, at the polls, sufficient to change the result. 



128 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

Sixth, For any error or mistake in any of the boards of judges 
or canvassers in counting or declaring the result of the election, 
if the error or mistake would affect the result. 

Seventh, For any other cause (though not enumerated above) 
which shows that another was the legally elected person. (G. S. 
1909, § 3205.) 

§ 260. Insufficient Cause. The matter contained in the first, 
fifth and sixth causes of contest shall not be held sufficient to set 
aside the election unless such causes be found sufficient to change 
the result. (G. S. 1909, § 3206.) 

§ 261. Court. The court for the trial of contested county 
elections shall be thus constituted : The probate judge shall be 
the presiding officer, and he shall select two disinterested per- 
sons who shall be associated ^Ith him. (G. S. 1909, § 3207.) 

§ 262.- Duty of County Clerk. The county clerk shall be the 
clerk of this court, and shall keep all papers, and record the pro- 
ceedings in the election book, in the manner similar to the record 
of the proceedings of the district coiui: ; and when the person who 
holds the office of county clerk is one of the parties, the probate 
judge shall appoint a clerk for the time being, whose appoint- 
ment shall be recorded. (G. S. 1909, § 3208.) 

§ 263. Statement and Bond. The contest or shall file in the 
office of the county clerk, within twenty daj^s after the day when 
the votes are canvassed, a written statement of his intention to 
contest the election, setting forth the name of the contest or, and 
that he is an elector of the county, the name of the contestee, 
the office contested, the time of the election, and the particular 
causes of contest ; which statement shall be verified by the affi- 
dsLYit of the contestor, or some elector of the county, that the 
causes set forth are true, as he verily believes. But before the 
probate judge, or, in case of his interest, the count}^ attorney, 
is required to take jurisdiction of the contest, the contestor must 
file with such judge or attorney a bond, with security to be ap- 
proved by said judge or attorney, and conditioned to pay all 
costs in case the election is confirmed, or the statement be dis- 
missed, or the prosecution fails. (G. S. 1909, § 3209.) 

§ 264. Names to he Stated. When the reception of illegal or 
the rejection of legal votes is alleged as a cause of contest, the 
names of the persons who so voted, or whose votes were rejected, 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 129 

with the township where they voted or offered to vote, shall be 
set forth in the statement. (G. S. 1909, § 3210.) 

§ 265. Stay. When any contestee shall offer and file an an- 
swer, setting forth a statement that he lays no claim to the office, 
and shall pay all costs, the contestant shall be declared the holder 
thereof, and further proceedings shall be stayed. (G. S. 1909, 
§3211.) 

§ 266. Day for Trial. As soon as the judges are nominated, 
the probate judge shall fix a day for trial, not more than thirty 
nor less than twenty days from the notice contemplated in this 
section ; which notice, addressed to the usual officer of the law, 
shall contain the names of the contestor and the contestee, and 
of the judges named, a brief statement of the causes of contest, 
and the day of trial. (G. S. 1909, § 3212.) 

§ 267. Service of Notice. The notice shall be served on the 
contestee within five days, and on the two nominated judges 
within fifteen days from the day it is issued. (G. S. 1909, § 3213.) 

§ 268. Testimony. The testimony may be oral or by depo- 
sitions ; and depositions may be taken on four days' notice, in 
the same manner for the causes as in an action in the district 
court. (G. S. 1909, § 3214.) . 

§ 269. Subpoenas, etc. The probate judge may issue sub- 
poenas for witnesses, whether interested or not. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3215.) 

§ 270. Proceedings. The proceedings shall be under the con- 
trol and direction of the court, and the trial may be postponed 
for good cause shown by affidavit. The terms of such postpone- 
ment are in the discretion of the court. (G. S. 1909, § 3216.) 

§ 271. Process; Service. The style and form of process, the 
officers by whom served, and the manner of service of process 
and papers, and the fees of officers and witnesses, shall be the 
same as in the district court, so far as the nature of the case ad- 
mits. The command to a witness may be to appear at , 

on , to testify in relation to a contested election, wherein 

A. B. is contestor and C. D. contestee. (G. S. 1909, § 3217.) 

§ 272. Place of Trial. The trial of contested elections shall 
take place at the county seat, unless adjourned to some other 



130 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

place mthin the county, by the concurrence of the court and the 
parties ; and this court shall have all the powers incident to the 
district coui't, which may be necessary to the right hearing, con- 
duct and determination of the matter before it. (G. S. 1909, 

§ 3218.) 

§ 273. Attendance of Officer. The court may direct the at- 
tendance of the sheriff, or a constable, when necessary. (G. S. 
1909, § 3219.) 

§ 274. Required to Answer. It shall be lawful to require any 
person called as a mtness, who voted at such election, to answer 
touching his quahfications as a voter ; and if he was not a quah- 
fied voter in the township or ward in which he voted, then to re- 
quire him to answer for whom he voted ; and if the witness an- 
swers such questions, no part of his testimony shall be used 
against him in any criminal action. (G. S. 1909, § 3220.) 

§ 275. Judgment. The court shall pronounce judgment, 
whether the contestee or any other person was duly elected; 
and the person so declared elected will be entitled to his certifi- 
cate, upon quahfication. If the judgment be against the con- 
testee, and he has received his certificate, the judgment annuls it. 
If the court finds that no person was duly elected, the judgment 
shall be that the election be set aside. (G. S. 1909, § 3221.) 

§ 276. Compensation. The nominated judges shall be en- 
titled to receive two dollars per day for the time occupied for 
trial. (G. S. 1909, § 3222.) 

§ 277. Liability for Costs. The contest or and the contestee 
are hable to the ofiicers and witnesses for the costs made by them, 
respectively ; but if the election be confirmed, or the statement 
dismissed, or the prosecution fail, judgment shall be rendered 
against the contestor for costs ; and if the judgment be against 
the contestee, or the election be set aside, the costs shall be against 
him. (G. S. 1909, § 3223.) 

§ 278. Execution; Effect of Transcript. The probate court 
is authorized to issue execution for costs, to run against personal 
property; and a transcript, filed and recorded in the office of 
the district court, as provided in relation to transcripts from 
justices' courts, shall have the same effect as there pro\dded, and 
execution may issue thereon against real or personal property. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3224.) 



GENERAL ELECTIOX LAWS. 131 

§ 279. Order of Court, etc. The probate judge shall have au- 
thority to carry into effect any order of the court after the ad- 
journment thereof, bv attachment or otherwise. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3225.) 

TOWXSHIP OFFICERS. 

§ 280. Contested Elections. Contested elections of township 
officers shall be tried before the county board of canvassers, in 
the same manner as is pro\dded by law for contesting elections of 
county officers, so far as the same is practicable. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3226.) 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS. 

§ 281. Contest for Electors. Any candidate or elector desiring 
to contest the election of any persons declared elected electors of 
president and ^dee-president of the United States shall, between 
the last Wednesday in November and the ffi'st Wednesday in 
December next after the day of election, ffie a notice of such in- 
tention vrith the secretary of state, specifying the particular points 
on which he rehes. Upon such notice being ffied as aforesaid, it 
shall be the duty of the state board of canvassers, and the}^ are 
hereby authorized to immediately convene and to determine on 
what day or days, not later than the 20th day of December after 
said election, they T^ill meet in the office of the secretary of state 
in order to hear and determine any such contest ; and thereupon 
a certified cop}' of the notice filed by any contestor shall be served 
upon the contestee whose election is sought to be contested, or 
by lea\dng a copj^ thereof at his usual place of residence by such 
person as shall be appointed by said state board for that purpose, 
with a notice when he is required to attend in the office of the 
secretary of state to answer the contest. For the purpose of the 
jurisdiction hereby conferred, and for its necessary- and proper 
exercise, all laws of this state relating to the contest of elections 
of state officers, and the practice, rules and proceedings therein, 
shall apply to any contest of the election of any elector before said 
state board of canvassers so far as the same mav be applicable. 
(G. S. 1911, §3277.) 



132 GENERAL ELECTIOX L-\WS. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 



§ 282. Vacomcy, Hon: Filled. All vacancies in any state or 
county office,, and in the supreme or district courts, unless other- 
wise provided for by law. shall be filled by appointment from the 
governor, until the next general election after such vacancy occurs, 
when such vacancy shall be fihed by election. (G. S. 1909, § 3178.) 

§ 283. C cvwienccment of Term. The regular term of office of 
all state, district and county officers, and of the justices of the 
supreme court, shall commence on the second Monday of Janu- 
ary next after the election, except as otherwise provided for by 

law. (G. S. 1909. §3179.) 

§ 284. Oi Unexjjireel Term. Any of said officers that may be 
elected or appointed to fill vacancies may qualify and enter upon 
the duties of their cffice iUimediately thereafter, and when elected 
they may hold the same during the unexpired term for which they 
were elected, and until their successors are elected and quahfied ; 
but if appointed, they shall hold the same only until then' suc- 
cessors are elected and ciuahfied. ('G. S. 1909. § 31S0.) 

§ 285. Vacancy in Office of Senator or Representative. "^Mien- 
ever a vacancy shall occur in the cffice of senator or member of 
the house of representatives in any county, or counties, or district, 
in this state, entitled by law to such senator or representative, the 
governor shall, upon satisfactory information thereof, issue a 
writ cr writs of election to the sheriff or sheriffs of said county 
or counties entitled by law to such senator or representative as 
aforesaid, directing him to give notice of a special election within 
such county or counties on a day specified in such writ or writs, 
for the purpose of filling such A^acancy : and the sheriff shall pro- 
ceed to give notice of the time and place of holding such election, 
as in other cases : and such election shall be held and conducted 
and the returns thereof be made to the county clerks in the same 
manner and witliin the time specified m this act. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3181.) 

§ 286. C ovtmencement of Term. The regular term of office for 
members of the senate and house of representatives shall com- 



GEXER.\L ELECTIOX L.\WS. 133 

mence on the second Tuesdav of January next succeeding their 
election. (G. S. 1909, § 3182.) 

§ 287. Elections to Fill Vaca?icies. In all elections to fill 
vacancies under this act. when a special election is held, the com- 
missioners of the county shall, on the next Friday, or immediately 
thereafter, at ten o'clock a. m., assemble at the county clerk's 
office and proceed to open and canvass the returns ; and in making 
abstracts and returns to the secretary of state, the same rules 
shall be observed as are prescribed in cases of general elections ; 
and the secretary of state shall, immediately upon the receipt of 
such returns at his office, convene at least two of the state board of 
canvassers, besides himself, who shall proceed as in case of general 
elections. ' (G. S. 1909, §3183.) 

§ 288. Free from Arrest. All judges, clerks and voters shall be 
free from arrest, except for felony and breach of the peace, in 
going to. attending on and retm-ning from elections. (G. S. 1909, 
§3184.)' 

§ 289. Where not to he Held. Xo poll shall be opened or elec- 
tion held in this state at or in any building in wiiich spirituous, 
vinous, fermented or other intoxicating liquors are kept or sold. 
(G. S. 1909, §3185.) 

§ 290. Neglect of Duty; Corrupt Conduct, etc. If any officer, 
messenger or other person on whom any duty is enjoined b}' law, 
relative to general or special elections under this act. shall be 
guilty of any willful neglect of such dut}', or of am' corrupt con- 
duct in the execution of the same, he shall upon con^dction thereof 
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by 
fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and by imprisonment not 
exceeding one year ; and if any officer shall be convicted as afore- 
said, he shall be immediatelv removed from office. (G. S. 1909, 
§3186.) 

§ 291. Perjury. If any person challenged as unqualified to 
vote shall be guilty of willful and corrupt swearing or affirming in 
taking any oath or affirmation prescribed by this act, such person 
shall be adjudged guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof 
shall suffer the punishment attached by the laws of this state to 
the crime of perjury. (G. S. 1909, § 3187.) 

§ 292. Receiving Illegal Vote. If any judge of the election shall 
knowingly receive or sanction the reception of a vote from any 



134 GEXEILIL ELECnOX LAWS. 

person not ha^dng all the qualifications of an elector prescribed by 
this act. or receive or sanction the reception of a ballot from any 
person who shall refuse to answer any question which shall be put 
to hini in accordance with the provisions of this act. or shaU re- 
fuse or sanction the refusal by any oth^r judge of the board to 
which he shall belong to administer either of the oaths or affiiTaa- 
tions prescribed by the thii^d [second] article of this act. he shall 
upon conviction thereof be subject to the same pimishment as is 
prescribed in section seventy-six [sixtv-five]. (G. S. 1909, 
§3188.) 

§ 293 . Falsely Personating. Any person who shall falsely per- 
sonate any voter, and vote under the name of such voter, shall 
upon conviction be punished by confinement and hard labor not 
exceeding three years. (G. S/l909, § 31S9.) 

§ 294. Prosecutions. All prosecutions under the provisions of 
this act shall be by indictment or information before the district 
court in the ccuntv where the ofi^nse shall have been committed. 
(G. S. 1909, §3190.) 

§ 295. Fines. All fines incurred under this act shall be paid 
into the county treasure' where the ofi^nse was committed^ for 
the use of such county. ^ ( G. S. 1909., § 3191.) 

§ 296. Fees of County Clerk. Ever}' county clerk shaU receive 
for his services performed under this act the foUowing fees, to 
wit : For making out abstracts, for exery hundred words, ten 
cents : for each certificate, with seal attached to abstract, fifty 
cents : for certificate to county officer of his election, with seal 
attached, fiftv cents : which fees shaU be paid out of the ccuntv 
treasury. G. S. 1909, §3192.) 

§ 297. Cerrrpensation. The judges and clerks of any election 
held under this act shall receive as compensation for their services 
the sum of two dollars each : and the judge canying the returns 
frcm his township, election cUstrict or ward to the county clerk's 
office shaU receive for said service the sum of one dollar, and five 
cents per mile for each mile necessarily traveled in going to and 
returning frcm said office: said ccmpensaticn to be paid out of 
the county treasuiy. G. S. 1909. § 3193.) 

§ 298. Specicd Messencer. The special messenger sent by the 
secretary of state to any county for a copy of the abstract of votes 
of such ccunty shaU receive as ccmpensaticn for his service the 



GEXER.\L ELECTION LATVS. 135 

sum of two dollars per day for the time necessaiy to go and retm'ii 
to such county, and five cents per mile for each mile traveled in 
going to and returning by the usual traveled route from the capital 
to the coimty seat of such county. (G. S. 1909, § 3194.) 

§ 299. Justice of Peace — Contested Election. Under the limi- 
tations and restrictions herein provided, justices of the peace shall 
have original jurisdiction of ci^il actions for the recover^- of money 
only, and to tiy and detemiine the same where the amoimt claimed 
does not exceed tlii^ee hundiTd dollars. 

Tenth, to act in the absence of the probate judge in the trial 
of contested elections of justices of the peace, [fi. S. 1909. 
§ 6362.) 

§ 300. Ballots Xot Counted. That all ballots or votes cast at 
any election for any person holding the office of judge of the dis- 
trict court, or of justice of the supreme comt. except for a judicial 
office, or for the office of senator or representative in the congress 
of the United States, shall be deemed and held to be void, and 
shall not be counted by the judges and clerks at any election, nor 
by any canvassing board, nor shall any record of the same be made 
by any canvassing board, nor any certfficate of election issued 
thereon. (G. S. 1909, §3246.;^ 

§ '301. Misdemeanor. Any person violating the provisions of 
this act shall be deemed and held to be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
and on conviction thereof shall be imprisoned in the county jail 
not less than three nor more than six months. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3247.) 

§ 302. Organization to File Account. Ever\- state, district, 
county, city, ward or township committee, or any club, organiza- 
tion or association designed to promote or engaged in promoting 
the success or defeat of any party or the election or defeat of any 
candidate or candidates to pohtical office, shall have a treasurer, 
and shall cause to be kept a detailed account of all moneys or 
property or other thing of value received by it, and of the manner 
in which the same shall be expended ; and within thirty days 
after anj- election at which state or municipal or county or district 
officers or members of congi'ess are chosen, the treasurer of any 
such committee, club or other organization or any candidate 
which shall have expended money or property or other tiling of 



136 GENER_\L ELECTION LAWS. 

value in the campaign preceding such election, or in any way in 
connection with the same, shall file with the county clerk of the 
county in which such committee, club or other organization has 
its headquarters a statement of all its receipts and expenditures, 
showing in detail from whom said moneys or property or other 
thing of value were received, to whom said moneys or property or 
other thing of value were paid, for what specific purposes each 
pa^Tnent was made, and the exact natiue of the ser^-ice rendered 
in consideration thereof. ^ G. S. 1909, § 3325.^ 

§ 303. Penalty. Any person A-iolating any of the provisions 
of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
conviction shall be fined not more than one hundi'ed dollars. (G. 
S: 1909. §3326.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 137 

CHAPTER XIX. 
CORRUPT PRACTICES. 

§ 304. Promises, Penalty. Any person who shall lend or give 
any money or other valuable thing to any person to induce him to 
cast his vote either for or against any candidate for pubhc office ; 
or any person who shall lend or give any money or other valuable 
thing to any other person to induce him to refrain from voting or 
to remain away from the polls ; or any person who shall lend or 
furnish any money or security therefor to any other person or 
persons to be used for any of said purposes ; or any person who 
shall knowingly refund or make good to any person or persons any 
money expended for any of said purposes ; or any person who shall 
directly or indirectly give or procure to be given or promise to 
give any money, gift or reward, or any office, place or employ- 
ment, upon any engagement, contract, agreement or understand- 
ing that the person to whom or for whose benefit such gift or 
promise shall be made shall, by himself or any other person, por- 
cure or endeavor to procure or work for the election of any person 
to any pubhc office at any election, shall be punished by a ffiie of 
not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand 
dollars, or by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not more than 
two years, or both. (G. S. 1909, § 3283.) 

§ 305. Unlawful Acts. It shall be unlawful to hire, or to lend 
or pay or promise to pay any money, or to give or promise to give 
anything of value to any person to work at the polls on any elec- 
tion day in the- interest of any party, or any ticket, or any cancU- 
date or candidates. It shall be unlawful to lend or pay or promise 
to pay any money, or to give or promise to give anything of value 
to any person for work or services on election day, in endeavoring 
to influence or procure any other person or persons to come to or 
remain away from the polls. It shall be unlawful to lend or pay or 
promise to pay any money, or to give or promise to give anything 
of value to any person for work or ser^dces on election day in en- 
deavoring to influence or procure any other person or pei'sons to 
vote or refrain from voting for anv candidate or candidates. 
(G. S. 1909, § 3284.) 

§ 306. Liquors or Cigars. It shall be unlawful for any candi- 



138 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

date for public office to distribute or give away any intoxicating 
liquors or cigars on election day ; or at any time to authorize or 
employ any person to distribute or give away any intoxicating 
liquor or cigars for him or in his interest or behalf on election day ; 
or to procure or pay for, directly or through any other person, any 
intoxicating liquors or cigars to be so distributed or given away, or 
which shall have been so distributed or given away on election 
day. (G. S. 1909, § 3285.) 

§ 307. Liquors. It shall be unlawful for any candidate at any 
time to give away any intoxicating liquors with intent to influence 
the vote of any person or persons ; or to employ or authorize any 
other person to give away any such liquors with such intent ; or 
to purchase, procure or pay for, directly or through another per- 
son, any such liquors to be given away with such intent ; or to 
pay for, either before or after election, any such liquors which 
shall have been given away with such intent. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3286.) 

§ 308. Also Unlawful. All acts forbidden to be done by any 
such person in the interest or on behalf of any candidate for office 
shall be equally unlawful if done to influence the vote of any 
person or persons for or against any proposition to amend the 
constitution, or any proposition to vote bonds for any public 
purpose or in aid of any enterprise, or any proposition for sub- 
scription to the stock of any corporation ; and any person so of- 
fending shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $500, or by im- 
prisonment not exceeding two years, or by both. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3287.) 

§ 309. Committee Members; Penalty. All acts forbidden to be 
done by any candidate shall be equally unlawful if done by any 
member or officer of any state, district, county, city, ward or town- 
ship committee, or of any club, organization or association de- 
signed to promote or engaged in promoting the success or (defeat 
of any party, or the election or defeat of any candidate to a 
political office ; and any member of such committee, club or other 
organization who shall pay or personally authorize the payment 
of any money to any person for any purposes forbidden in this 
act shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dol- 
lars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3288.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 139 



CHAPTER XX. 

VOTERS' CHOICE FOR UNITED STATES SENATOR EX- 
PRESSED AT PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

§ 310. United States Senator — Choice. Any elector in this 
state seeking the nomination for the office of state senator or 
representative in the legislature may attach to and have circu- 
lated with his petition or nomination paper one of the following 
two statements, and may file the same with his petition or nomi- 
nation paper with the county clerk or secretary of state, as the 
c^se may be; but if he does not file such additional statement 
the secretary of state or county clerk, as the case may be, shall 
not on that account refuse to file his petition or nomination 
paper. 

Statement No. 1. I state to the people of Kansas, as well as to the people of 
my representative [or senatorial] district, that during my term of office I will always 
vote for that candidate for United States senator who has received the highest num- 
ber of the people's votes for that position at the general election in the state at large 
next preceding the election of the United States senator, without regard to my indi- 
vidual preference or party nominations for that office. 



(Signature of candidate for nomination.) 

If the candidate shall be unwilling to sign the above state- 
ment, then he may sign the following statement and have the 
same attached to his nomination paper and circulated and filed 
as aforesaid. 

Statement No. 2. During my term of office I shall consider the vote of the 
people for United State senator at any general election in the state at large as noth- 
ing more than a recommendation which I shall be at liberty to wholly disregard if 
the reason for so daing seems to me to be sufficient. 



(Signature of candidate for nomination.) 

The statements above provided for shall be signed by the 
elector seeking such nomination. There shall be a separate 
leaf or sheet signed as above on every such petition for each 
precinct in which it is circulated, and on another sheet or part 
of the petition there shall be placed the petition in regular form 
as now required by law for the nomination of state senators 
and representatives in the legislature. Persons whose names 
are placed on the primary ticket as candidates for the legislature 
or state senate shall have printed in addition to their names, 



140 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

in appropriate type directly above their names, the words (Candi- 
date under Statement No. 1) or (Candidate under Statement 
No. 2) as the case may be. (L. 1911, ch. 182, § 1.) 

§ 311. Party Nomination; Secretary of State to Certify. Nomi- 
nations for party candidates for United States senator shall 
be made in the way provided by law and the result determined 
as provided by paragraph 3305 of th3 General Statutes of 1909 ; 
and whenever the state canvassing board shall have determined 
under said law that any person has received a party nomination 
for United States senator to be elected at the succeeding session 
of the legislature, the secretary of state shall certify the name of 
such person to the several county clerks of the state of Kansas 
in the same manner in which candidates for state and district 
officers and members of Congress are certified under the laws of 
this state ; and it shall be the duty of the county clerks in printing 
the ballots at the November election succeeding such primary 
to cause to be printed on the official ballot to be used at such 
election, the names of all party candidates for United States 
senator so nominated. The name of the party candidate for 
United States senator shall be printed on the ballot directly 
following the candidates for presidential electors in years in 
which a president of the United States is to be elected, but in 
any year in which a president of the United States is not to be 
elected, the names of party candidates for United States senator 
shall appear at the head of the national ticket on said ballot, and 
there shall be placed at the right of each name of a party candi- 
date for United States senator the usual square in which the 
voter may vote in the usual manner of voting for candidates 
for other offices, for the purpose of expressing his choice for 
United States senator. The vote for United States senator 
shall be returned and canvassed by the election officers whose 
duty it is to return and canvass the votes for such officers, and 
the result shall be certified to and pubfished in the same man- 
ner by the secretary of state. The person receiving the highest 
number of votes cast for United States senator in the state of 
Kansas at such general election shall receive from the secretary 
of state a certificate which shall recite such fact and show the 
total number of votes cast for United States senator and the 
total number of votes cast for each person legally voted for at 
such election. (L. 1911, ch. 182, § 2.) 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 141 

CHAPTER XXI. 

VOTERS IN MILITARY SERVICE AND SOLDIERS' HOME. 

§ 312. Electors may Vote, etc. It shall be lawful for qualified 
electors of Kansas who may, on the occurrence of any annual 
election, be absent from their towship or ward, employed in the 
militia or volunteer service of the state or the United States, 
to vote for county, district or state officers, members of the legis- 
lature, and for members of congress, and electors of president 
and vice-president of the United States, at the places where 
they may be stationed on the day of such election, under regu- 
lations hereinafter prescribed. (G. S. 1909, § 3154.) 

§ 313. Poll-Books and Tally-Sheets. It shall be the duty of 
the secretary of state to prepare poll-books and tally-sheets to be 
used at elections held under the foregoing section. The poll- 
books shall contain the necessary headings and blanks, and be 
ruled into columns so as to show : First, the number of electors 
in the order in which they present themselves at the polls ; sec- 
ond, the name of the elector ; third, the regiment and company 
of which, he is a member ; fourth, the precinct, county and rep- 
resentative district of which he is a resident ; and, fifth, a cplunrn 
for remarks by judges and clerks of elections. The tally-sheets 
shall contain a complete list of the organized counties of the 
state, with the names of the precincts and the number of the rep- 
resentative districts in each county, with space opposite the name 
of each precinct to write the names of at least two candidates 
for each office to be filled at the election, and on each of said 
tally-sheets the proper printed notes, directing the manner of 
using and returning the same. (G. S. 1911, § 3155.) 

§ 314. Duplicate Copies. The governor shall employ some 
suitable person whose duty it shall be to deliver to the command- 
ants of Kansas regiments, or to the commandants of battalions, 
companies or squads, necessarily separated from the regiments 
to which they properly belong, at least ten days prior to each 
general election aforesaid, dupHcate copies of the poll-books and 
tally-sheets herein provided for, and to distribute among the 
officers and men, printed copies of this act : Provided, That in 



142 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

cases where regiments or subdivisions of regiments are located 
outside of the state, the governor shall transmit such poll-books, 
tally-sheets and printed matter by mail or express, or such other 
means as will be most economical to the state, and at the same 
time afford reasonable certainty that the persons for whom they 
are intended will receive the same. (G. S. 1909, § 3156.) 

§ 315. Elections hy Regiments. All elections held under the 
provisions of this act shall, as nearly as possible, be by regiments ; 
but where portions of two or more regiments are stationed at the 
same place, they shaU vote at the same polls. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3157.) 

§ 316. Place of Holding Election. The commandant of the 
regiment, or the officer in command of the battalion, company 
or squad whose vote is to be taken, shall, on the morning of the 
election day, appoint some convenient and suitable place for 
holding the election. At the time and place of opening the polls, 
the electors shall elect, by viva voce vote, three judges and two 
clerks of election, who shall, before receiving any votes, severally 
take and subscribe the oath hereinbefore provided to be taken 
by judges and clerks of election, which oath may be administered 
by any commissioned officer of such regiment, battahon, or com- 
pany, who shall attach his certificate thereto. (G. S. 1909, 
§ 3158.) 

§ 317. Provisions of Article 2. The provisions of article 3 
[2] of this chapter, relative to the opening of polls, the manner 
of keeping the ballot-box and testing the qualifications of elec- 
tors, so far as the same are apphcable, shall be applied to the 
taking of the votes of soldiers absent from their precincts. (G. S. 
1909, § 3159.) 

§ 318. Ballot; Duty of Judges and Clerks. Each elector shall, 
in full view, deliver to one of the judges of the election a single 
ballot or piece of paper, on which shall be written or printed, or 
partly written and partly printed : First, the county, township 
or ward and representative district of which he is a resident ; 
and, second, the com.pany and regiment of which he is a member — - 
all of which shall be exposed. The ballot shall also contain the 
names of the persons voted for as above, with designation of the 
office which each is intended to fill, which may be exposed or 
concealed, at the option of the elector, but if concealed, the judges 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 143 

shall not inspect it. The judges shall announce in an audible 
voice the name of the elector, his residence and his company and 
regiment, as set forth on his ballot, and if no objection be made, 
and the judges are satisfied that he is a qualified elector, as rep- 
resented by his ballot, the clerks shall set down, in the proper 
columns, the number of the vote, the name of the voter, with 
his company and regiment, together with the count}", township 
or ward, and number of the representative district of which he 
claims to be an elector, and the judges shall deposit it in the bal- 
lot-box. (G. S. 1909, § 3160.) 

§ 319. Provisions of Article 2, etc. The pro\dsions of article 
3 [2] of this chapter, relative to the authentication of the poll- 
books, the opening of the ballot-box, the counting of the ballots, 
the preservation of the same, the making up and certification 
of the tally-sheets, and all other provisions of said article which 
are in their nature appHcable, shall be complied with by judges 
and clerks of election chosen under this article. (G. S. 1909, 
§3161.) 

§ 320. Poll-Books and Tally-Sheets. It shall be the duty of 
judges to at'tach together, wrap up and seal securely, a certified 
copy of the poll-books and tally-sheets, and indorse thereon, ^^A 
certified copy of an election of citizens of Kansas in the military 

ser\dce, held at , on the day of , A. D. ," 

and to direct and forthwith transmit the same, by mail, to the 
secretary of state, at the state capital. The original poll-book 
and tally-sheet shall be similarl}" attached together, wrapped up 
and indorsed, and, with the ballots, shall be retained by one of the 
judges, to be forwarded to the secretary of state in the event of 
the loss of the copy first transmitted. (G. S. 1909, § 3162.) 

§ 321. Duty of Secretary of State. It shall be the duty of the 
secretary of state, on receipt of any returns of an election held 
pursuant to this article, to open the same and record all votes 
cast for state officers, member of congress or electors of president 
and vice-president of the United States, to the respective candi- 
dates for whom they were given, and to file the records away in 
his office ; and it shall be his duty, on or before the second Monday 
in December, to transmit to the county clerk of each county a 
certified abstract of all the votes polled for county officers by 
citizens of such county in military employ, together with the 
township or ward, or representative district, of which they were 



144 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

residents, as appears by the official records of his office. (G. S. 
1909, §3163.) 

§ 322. Duty of Commissioners. Whenever there shall be qual- 
ified electors of the county absent from their voting precincts in 
the military service on the day of any general election, the board 
of county commissioners shall meet at the office of the county 
clerk, at ten o'clock a. m. on the third Monday in December next 
after such election, and shall then proceed to open and count the 
returns of votes given for county officers, including the vote cer- 
tified by the secretary of state to have been polled for such county 
officers by absent electors in the military service, and shall be 
governed in such canvass by the provisions of article 4 [3] of this 
chapter. (G. S. 1909, §3164.) 

§ 323. Who Disqualified. No one shall be permitted to vote 
under the provisions of this article who was not, at the time of 
his employment in the military service, a qualified elector under 
the laws of Kansas, in the township or ward where he claims to 
have his vote counted. (G. S. 1909, § 3165.) 

§ 324. State Soldiers^ Home. It shall be lawful for qualified 
electors of Kansas who may on the occurrence of*any annual 
election be absent from their township or ward, by reason of being 
legally admitted inmates of the state soldiers' home in Kansas, to 
vote for county, township, district and state officers, members of 
the legislature, and for members of congress and electors of 
president and vice-president of the United States, at said state 
soldiers' home, on the day of such election, under regulations 
hereinafter prescribed : Provided, That no inmate of said state 
soldiers' home who was an elector of the county in which said state 
soldiers' home is located at the time of his admission to said state 
soldiers' home shall be permitted to vote under any of the pro- 
visions of this act : Provided, That the inmates of state soldiers' 
home shall be exempt from registration as required by law in the 
cities. (G. S. 1909, §3166.) 

§ 325. Poll-Books. It shall be the duty of the secretary of 
state to prepare poll-books and tally-sheets to be used at elections 
held under the foregoing section. The poll-books shall contain 
the necessary headings and blanks, and be ruled into columns so 
far as to show : First, the number of electors, in the order in which 
they present themselves at the polls ; second, the name of the 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 145 

elector ; third, the precinct or township, county and representa- 
tive district of which he was a resident at the time of his admission 
as an inmate of said state soldiers' home ; fom-th, a column for 
remarks by judges and clerks of the election. The tally-sheets 
shall contain a complete hst of the organized counties of the state, 
with the names of the precincts and the number of the repre- 
sentative districts in each county, with space opposite the name 
of each precinct to write the names of at least two candidates for 
each office to be filled at the election, and on each of said tally- 
sheets the proper printed notes directing the manner of using and 
returning the same. (G. S. 1909, § 3167.) 

§ 326. Transmittal. At least ten days prior to each annual 
election aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the secretary of state to 
transmit the poll-books, tally-sheets, herein provided for, and the 
usual cards of instructions, by mail or express or such other means 
as will be most economical to the state, to the commandant of 
said state soldiers' home. Such transmittal shall be under seal, 
secure from observation, and the commandant of said state 
soldiers' home shall deliver said poll-books, tally-sheets and 
printed matter to the judges of the election as hereinafter pro- 
vided. (G. S. 1909, § 3168.) 

§ 327. Duty of County Clerks. It shall be the duty of the clerk 
of the county, any of whose qualified electors are inmates of said 
state soldiers' home, to transmit, under seal, by mail or express, to 
the commandant of said state soldiers' home, a sufficient number 
of ballots, allowing at least three ballots for each qualified elector 
of such county who may be an inmate of said state soldiers' home ; 
and it shall be the duty of said commandant to deliver said ballots 
to the judges of said election, as hereinafter provided. (G. S. 
1909, §3169.) 

§ 328. Election Officers. The commandant of said state 
soldiers' home shall, on the morning of the election da}^, appoint 
some convenient and suitable place for holding the election. At 
the time and place of opening the polls, the electors shall elect, by 
viva voce vote, three judges and two clerks of election, who shall, 
before receiving any votes, severally take and subscribe the oath 
or affirmation provided by law to be taken by judges and clerks of 
election, which oath may be administered by any person author- 
ized by law to administer oaths. Immediately upon said judges 

—10 



146. GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

and clerks having been sworn as herein provided, the commandant 
of said state soldiers' home shall deliver to the judges of said elec- 
tion the poll-books, tally-sheets, ballots and printed matter that 
he may have received from the secretary of state and the various 
county clerks under the provisions of this act. (G. S. 1909, 
§3170.) 

§ 329. Manner of Voting. Each elector shall, before deliver- 
ing his ballot to one of the judges, announce his name, the county, 
township or ward and representative district of which he is a 
resident, all of which shall be entered on the poll-book opposite 
the elector's name. The judge shall announce in an audible voice 
the name of the elector and his residence as given by him, and if 
no objection be made, and the judges are satisfied that he is a 
qualified elector, as represented by him, the clerks shall write in 
the proper column the name of the voter, with the county, town- 
ship or ward, and number of the representative district of which 
he claims to be an elector, and the judges shall deposit his ballot 
in the ballot-box. (G. S. 1909, § 3171.) 

§ 330. Laws Applicable. The provisions of the general elec- 
tion laws of the state relative to opening and closing of the polls, 
testing the qualifications of the electors, the authentication of 
the poll-books, the opening of the ballot-box, the counting of the 
ballots, and all other provisions of the general election laws of the 
state which are in their nature applicable, shall be applied to 
elections held under this act. (G. S. 1909, § 3172.) 

§ 331. Returns. It shall be the duty of the judges to attach 
together, wrap up and seal securely a certified copy of the poll- 
books and tally-sheets, and indorse thereon, ^^A certified copy of 
an election of citizens of Kansas who are inmates of the state 

soldiers' home at said state soldiers' home on the day of 

, A. D. ," and to direct and forthwith transmit by 

mail to the secretary of state, at the state capital. The original 
poll-books and tally-sheets shall be similarly attached together, 
wrapped up and indorsed, and, with the ballots, shall be retained 
by one of the judges, to be forwarded to the secretary of state in 
the event of the loss of the copy first transmitted. (G. S. 1909, 
§3173.) 

§ 332. Record Votes. It shall be the duty of the secretary of 
state, on receipt of any returns of any election held pursuant to 



GEXER-\L ELECTION LAWS. 147 

this act. to open the same and record all votes cast for stateofficers, 
members of congi'ess. or electors of president or ^-ice-president of 
the United States, to the respective candidates for whom they 
were given, and to file the records away in his office : and it shall 
be his duty, on or before the first ^Monday after such election, to 
transmit to the county clerk of each county a certified abstract of 
all the votes polled for county and township officers by citizens 
of such cotmty who are inmates of the state soldiers' home, to- 
gether with the township or ward or representative district of 
which they were residents, as appears by the official records of 
his office. ^ G. S. 1909. $3174.i 

§ 333. Ca?iva.s.s. T\lienever there shall be quahfied electors 
of the county absent from their voting precincts who are inmates 
of the state soldiers' home on the day of any general election, the 
board of cotmty commissioners shall meet at the office of the 
count}' clerk at ten o'clock a. m. on the second Friday next after 
such election, and shaU then proceed to open and count the retiu'ns 
of votes given for coimty and township officers certified by the 
secretary of state to have been polled for such county officers by 
absent electors, inmates of the state soldiers" home, and shaU be 
governed in such canvass by the general laws of the state of Kan- 
sas appHcable in such case : Prorided, That the imnate of the state 
soldiers' home shall be exempt from registration as reciuired by 
law in the cities. G. S. 1909. § 3175. 

§ 334. Voter. Xo person shall be permitted to vote under the 
pro\isions of this act. who was not at the time of his admission as 
an inmate of said soldiers" home, a Ciualified elector under the laws 
of Kansas, in the township or ward where he claims to have his 
vote counted. (G. S. 1909. §3176.' 

§ 335. Booths, etc. The booths, ballot-boxes and other things 
necessary for the holding of elections under this act shall be 
furnished by and be the property of the state, and when not in 
use the ballot-boxes and booths shall be preserved and cared 
for bv the quartermaster of said soldiers' home. G. S. 1909. 
§ 3177.) 



148 GEXEIL\L ELECnOX L.\W 



CHLIPTER XXII. 
VOTING WHEN ABSENT FROM VOTING PRECINCTS. 

§ 336. Voting — Absent irom Home, It shall be lawful for 
any qualified elector of the state of Kansas, having complied with 
the law in regard to registration where such registration is re- 
quii'ed. who may. on the occmTence of any general election, be 
unavoidably absent from his township or ward because his duties 
or occupation or business reciuii^e him to be elsewhere within the 
state, outside the county in which he resides, to vote for coimty, 
district or state officers, members of the legislature, members of 
congress and electors of president and \-ice-president of the 
United States in any voting precinct where he may present him- 
seK for that ptu'pose on the day of such election, tmder regulation 
prescribed in chapter ISO of the Laws of 1901 : Provided. That he 
shall not have voted at any other voting precinct on the same 
day. §3312. as amended by Laws 1911. ch. ISl. § 1. 

§ 337. Andavit. The voter so entitled to vote shall present 
himself at the polls in any precinct in the state where he may be 
on such election day. and diuing voting hoiu^s. and make and sub- 
scribe, before one of the judges of election, an affidavit in sub- 
stance as follows ; 

State: of Ivaxsas. Cojtsty. ss. 

I. , do solemnly s^ear that I have resided in the state of Kansas 

more than six months, and in the township of [or m the ward of the 

city of \ in the county of , in said state, more than thirty days next 

preceding this date, and am in all respects a duly qualified elector of said ; 

that I am a . and that because of - my duties [or occupation or business] as 

such I am required to be absent from my township [or ward] on this day^ 

and have had and will have no opportunity to vote there : and that I have not voted 
elsewhere at this election. 

Any judge of election in any precinct in the state is hereby 
authorized to administer the oath and take and certify such af- 
fidavit. Thereupon the affiant shall be given a blank official 
ballot, as in case of a resident voter, and shall mark the same as 
any resident voter may. and shall fold the same and hand it to 
the judges, as in case of a resident voter, but such ballot shall not 
be deposited in the ballot-box nor be entered on the poll-books. 
It shall, together v^dth said affidavit, be securely sealed in an 
envelope, upon the back of which one of the judges shall write: 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 149 

'* The ballot of , an absent voter of township [or 

ward, or precinct of the — ward, of the city of ], in 

the county of ," which shall be signed by one of said judges. 

(G. S. 1909, § 3318.) 

§ 338. Votes to County Clerk. All such envelopes shall, by 
the judges of election, be filed with the county clerk of the county 
where such vote was cast not later than the day following such 
general election, and said county clerk shall innnediately mail 
them, postage prepaid, to the county clerk of the respective county 
where such votes belong. (§ 3314, as amended by Laws 1911, 
ch. 181, § 2.) 

§ 339. Counted. The county clerk of the county in which said 
absent voter resides shall receive said ballot, and shall safely keep 
and preserve the same unopened in his office until the board of 
county commissioners canvass the vote according to law, at which 
time the said board of county commissioners, in the presence of 
said county clerk and no other person, shall open said envelope 
and record the said ballot upon the poll-sheet of the proper pre- 
cinct or ward in their possession, in the same manner as clerks of 
election record votes, and in so canvassing said vote the board of 
county commissioners shall count the votes of all absent voters 
taken as herein provided, and add the same to the total of the 
poll-sheet in arriving at the total result of the election in the pre- 
cinct or ward where said voter lives. (G. S. 1909, § 3315.) 

§ 340. Ballot Kept. Said ballot, when so opened by the 
county commissioners, shall be sealed in an envelope with the in- 
dorsement thereon: "Vote of absent voter of ward, 

city [or precinct]," and the same shall be kept in the 

county clerk's office as other ballots are kept until destroyed ac- 
cording to law ; and in case of a contested election the same may 
be opened and counted as in other cases. The board of county 
commissioners and the county clerk of each county wherein any 
vote of any absent voter is received as herein provided shall keep 
the fact of such vote and the persons for whom the same is re- 
corded and contents thereof secret and shall not reveal or divulge 
the same. (G. S. 1909, § 3316.) 

§ 341. False swearing. If any person shall willfully swear 
falsely to the affidavit herein provided for, he shall upon convic- 
tion thereof be deemed guilty of perjury, and be punished as in 



150 GEXTP-AL ELECTIOX LAWS. 

such case^ provided by law. If the officers of the election permit 
any person to vote as herein provided without his taking said 
affidavit, or shall neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties 

prescribed by this act. they shall upon conviction thereof be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding 
one hundred dollai^. If any county clerk or any member of the 
board of county commisdoners shall neglect or refuse to perform 
any of the duties prescribed by this act. or shall reveal or divulge 
any of the details of any baUot herein provided, he shall upon 
conviction thereof be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor, and be 
punished bv a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. (G. S. 
1909. §3317.) 

§ 342. Af^.davits. Every coimty clerk, along with the official 
ballots for each and every precinct, shall supply the judges of 
election with a sufficient supply of printed blank affidavits of the 
character prescribed by this act. G. S. 1909. § 3318.) 



GENERAL ELECTION L-\WS. 151 

CH.\PTER XXIII. 

VOTING MACHINES. 

§ 343. May be Used. On and after the passage of this act, 
the board of county cominissioners of any county within the state 
may, at any regular or special meeting thereof, provide for the 
pmxhase and use of automatic baUot or voting machines in such 
county, or in one or more precincts thereof, at all general or 
primary elections held therein ; and it shall be lawful for the 
mayor and council of any city or the township board of any town- 
ship within this state to determine upon the purchase and use 
of automatic ballot or voting machines at aU general or primary 
elections to be held within said city or township, or any one or 
more wards or precincts thereof ; and thereupon such ballot 
or voting machine shall be used for the purpose of voting for 
all pubhc officers to be elected by the voters of said county, cit}^, 
township, ward, precinct or precincts thereof for which the same 
shall have been adopted, and upon all constitutional amend- 
ments, propositions or questions which may be lawfully sub- 
mitted to such voters, and shall be used for the purpose of voting 
for all nominees or other officers at any primary election, and for 
registering and counting the ballots cast at such election : Pro- 
vided, however, That before any board of county commissioners, 
township board or mayor and council of any city shall order, 
contract for, purchase, agree to purchase or order the use of 
any automatic baUot or voting machine, said officers shall first 
test the same by every means within their knowledge, and shall 
satisfy themselves that the automatic ballot or voting machines 
proposed to be purchased are thoroughly reliable and correct 
in their operation, easily understood, and cannot be fraudulently 
manipulated ; and no automatic ballot or voting machine shall 
be adopted or used in this state at any election, general or pri- 
mary, unless such ballot or voting machine is so constructed and 
can be operated as to insure the absolute secrecy of each voter's 
ballot, and pro\4ded with mechanism which will automatically 
keep an accurate numerical register and account of all the votes 
cast at any election wherein said machine may be used, and which 
will also conceal and keep from view the number of ballots cast 
for any and all candidates balloted for from the opening of the 



152 GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

polls to the closing thereof; Provided, however, That nothing in 
this act contained shall be construed as compeUing the use of 
any ballot or voting machine at any election of school officers 
in any city, \dllage, town or district at which no other public 
officers are to be elected. (G. S. 1909, § 3319.) 

§ 344. Efficiency. No automatic ballot or voting machine 
shall be purchased or contracted for unless it shall have the capa- 
city to contain the tickets of at least seven political parties, mth 
the names of the candidates thereon, and such as can be safely 
and conveniently used by at least two hundred voters in any 
one election district, ward or precinct during the time allowed 
for holding a general election therein, and which enables each 
voter to vote a straight ticket, and also enables each voter to 
select a ticket in part from the nominees of one party and in 
part from the nominees of another party or parties, or from 
independent nominees of persons not nominated by any poHtical 
party, and absolutely prevents the voter from voting for the 
candidates and propositions that such voter ma}^ not desire 
to vote for; that said machine shall be so constructed that it 
ma}^ be used for both male and female voters in the same elec- 
tion, and register and show the public at all times the number 
of voters actuall^^ casting their votes at such election. (G. S. 
1909, §3320.) 

§ 345. Eules for Use. It shall be the duty of the executive 
council of the state, within ninety days preceding the next 
general election, and from time to time thereafter, as they may 
deem ad^dsable, to .make, prescribe and pubhsh rules and regu- 
lations, under the existing election laws of this state, for the use 
of such automatic ballot or voting machines at elections; such 
rules and regulations so prescribed shall be submitted to and ap- 
and regulations, so prescribed shall be submitted to and ap- 
proved by the attorney-general of the state before the}^ are pub- 
lished and become effective. (G. S. 1009, § 3321.) 

§ 346. Duties of Judges. All election officers are hereby 
charged with the proper carrjdng out of the necessary regulations 
prescribed for the use of any automatic ballot or voting ma- 
-chines provided for in their respective cities, townships, wards, 
or precincts, and as soon as the polls are closed the ballot or 
voting machine shall be locked against further operation, and 
*the recording mechanism exposed in the presence of the watchers 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 153 

and all other persons who may be lawfully within the room or 
voting-place, giving full view of the dial numbers, showing votes 
cast for each candidate, and for or against the various amend- 
ments and propositions submitted, and the judges shall then 
pubhcly announce the total vote for each candidate and for and 
against the amendments and propositions. Before leaving the 
voting-place, the judges shall make and sign statements of re- 
turns of such election as are now required by law as far as apph- 
cable to an election conducted with automatic ballot or voting 
machines. The written statements or returns so made, after 
ha\'ing been signed by the judges, shall be distinctly read in the 
presence and hearing of all persons present, and ample oppor- 
tunity given to compare the result so certified with the counter 
dials of the machine; after such comparison and correction, if 
any is made, the judges shall then close the voting machine and 
securely lock the same in its closed position. (G. S. 1909, § 3322.) 

§ 347. Penalty. Any person who shall tamper with or at- 
tempt to tamper with such machine or machines, or in any man- 
ner disarrange, deface or impair the use of any automatic ballot 
or voting machine, or any person who shall be guilty of or at- 
tempt any dishonest practice upon any such machine or with 
or by its use, or any person who shall destroy or attempt to de- 
stroy any such machine or the register or record made by the 
same, or attempt to injure or render ineffectual any such auto- 
matic ballot or voting machine provided for in accordance with 
the provisions of this act, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, 
and on conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment in 
the penitentiary at hard labor for a term of not less than one 
year nor more than five years. (G. S. 1909, § 3323.) 

§ 348. Laws. All laws and parts of laws now in force within 
this state which relate to state, county, city or township elections, 
and defining the powers and duties of election officers, so far as 
apphcable to the use of automatic ballot or voting machines, 
shall remain in full force and effect ; and all laws or parts of laws 
inconsistent herewith shall be and the same are hereby suspended 
in each county, city, township, ward or precinct wherein auto- 
matic ballot or voting machines are used so long as the same shall 
be used therein ; and nothing in this act contained shall be con- 
strued as repealing any existing laws, or authorizing any de- 
viation or omission therefrom, except as provided for or set forth 
herein. (G. S. 1909, § 3324.) 



J^ GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

FEMALE SUFFRAGE. 

§ 349. Women May Vote,'*' That in any election hereafter held 
in any city of the first, second or third class, for the election of city 
or school officers, or for the purpose of authorizing the issuance of 
any bonds for school purposes, the right of any citizen to vote 
shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex ; and women may 
vote at such election the same as men, under like restrictions and 
qualifications ; and any women possessing the qualifications of a 
voter under this act shall also be eligible to any such city or school 
ofi&ce. (G. S. 1909, § 733.) 

§ 350. For Free Public Library. That in any election here- 
after held in any city of the first, second or third class, for the 
purpose of voting upon the question of the establishment and 
maintenance of a free public library and reading room by such 
city, the right of any citizen to vote shall not be denied or 
abridged on account of sex ; and any women may vote at such 
election the same as men, under like restrictions and qualifica- 
tions. (L. 1911, ch. 185, § 1.) 

§ 351. Voters. All electors qualified to vote for municipal 
officers, including both male and female, are hereby deemed and 
declared legal electors, and are hereby authorized and qualified 
to' vote at any election held under the provisions of this act.f (G. 
S. 1909, § 1075.) 

§ 352. The Same. At such election, and at all other elections 
held under this act, only persons who are twenty-one years of age 
and are freeholders resident in Kansas, whose lands in whole or 
in part ar« within the district, shall be permitted to vote, and they 
shall vote in the county within which their lands are located; 
but no discrimination shall be made on account of sex. (Part of 
§ 7, ch. 170, L. 1911.) 

*See, also, §§ 157, 166, 183, 217 of this Manual, in reference to School Elections. 

tThis Act refers to the sale of real estate and the issuance of bonds. See § 1073, G. S. 1909. For 

remainder of Act, see "Drainage," ch. 170, L. 1911. 



GENERAL ELECTION LAWS. 155 

Resolution Relating to Equal Suffrage. 

That the following proposition to amend the constitution 
of the state of Kansas be hereby submitted to the qualified 
electors of the state for their approval or rejection, namely : 

The rights of citizens of the state of Kansas to vote and hold 
office shall not be denied or abridged on account of sex. (L. 1911, 
ch. 337, § 1.) 

This proposition shall be submitted to the electors of this 
state at the election for representatives to the legislature in the 
year 1912. The amendment hereby proposed shall be known on 
the official ballot by the following title: '^ Amendment to the 
constitution granting equal rights and privileges to women,'' and 
the vote for or against such amendment shall be taken as pro- 
vided by law. (L. 1911, ch. 337, § 2.) 

This amendment, if adopted, shall be known as section 8 of 
article 5 of the constitution of the state of Kansas. (L. 1911, ch. 
337, §3.) 



INDEX. 



Chapter I. — Constitttioxal Provisions. 

1. Constitution of the United States. Section 

Fifteenth Amendment 1 

2. Kansas Constitution : 

Qualifications of Elector 2 

Persons Not Qualified 3 

Citizens in the Military Service, and Absent 4 

Proof of Right 5 

Electors Privileged 6 

Duelists 7 

Bribery 8 

Chapter II. — Offices to be Filled. 

General Election 9 

Justices of the Supreme Court 10 

Superintendent of Insurance 11 

State Printer 12 

Lieutenant-Governor 13 

Railroad Commissioners 14 

Presidential Electors 15 

Members of the Legislature 16 

County and Township OflBcers and County Commissioners 17 

County Officers 18 

County Commissioners 19 

Officers of City Courts 20 

County Clerk 21 

County Treasurer 22 

Probate Judge 23 

Register of Deeds 24 

Sheriff 25 

County Attorney 26 

Clerk of District Court 27 

County Surveyor 28 

Coroner 29 

Chapter III. — General Provisions. 

Elections 30 

Election Districts 31 

Ballot-Box 32 

Notice to be given by Sheriff 33 

Employ^ of State 34 

(157) 



158 INDEX. 

Chapter IV. — Australian Ballot Law : Section. 

Ballots Printed at Public Expense 35 

City and General Elections 36 

Nominations 37 

Certificate 38 

Independent Nominations ♦ 39 

Certificates of Nomination ; Emblem 40, 

Filing Certificates 41 

One Nomination ; Withdrawal of Nominee 42 

Vacancy, How Filled 43 

Objections to Nominations ; Notice 44 

Secretary of State to Certify 45 

Name Changed on Ballot 46 

Certify to Clerk 47 

What Shall be Printed on Ballots ; Instructions on 48 

Printing and Distribution of Ballots 49 

Constitutional Amendment ; Ballot 50 

Instructions 51 

Posted 52 

Election Boards 53 

Voting-places ; Arrangement of Booths 54 

Voting-place in Adjoining City 55 

Manner of Voting 56 

Manner of Voting ; Marking Ballots ; Challenges 57 

Assisting Voter 58 

Employ^, Two Hours to Vote 59 

Canvass of Vote; Certificate; Mark Defimed; Counting; Disposal of 

Ballots 60 

Penalty for Electioneering 61 

Marked or Identified Ballots 62 

Destruction, Hindrance, etc 63 

Penalty for Irregularities 64 

Failing to Perform Duty 65 

Fees of Judges and Clerks of Election 66 

Copies of Act 67 

Hours of Voting ^ 68 

Chapter V. — Primary Elections. 

Definitions 69 

Scope of Act 70 

Time of Holding Primary 71 

Notice of Primary 72 

Preparation of Nomination Papers 73 

Filing of Nomination Papers 74 

Pubhshing Names of Candidates. 75 

: Official Ballot .......;. .... . • . . • • • 76 

I,. Preparation and Distribution of Tickets — ..... . . . . . . . . . i > . . ., .... . . . . . 77 

Determining Location of Name on Ballot — 78 

Heading of Ballot 79 



INDEX. 159 

Section: 

Conduct of Primary , . 80 

Registration and Voting 81 

Challenges 82 

Canvass of Votes and Returns • • • • 83 

State Board of Canvassers 84 

Official Party Candidates 85 

Vacancies, How Filled , 86 

Party Organization and Government , 87 

Preparation of Blanks 88 

Payment of Expenses 89 

Penal Provisions 90 

Law Repealed 91 

Chapter VI. — Conduct of Elections. 

Rules Determining Residence of Voter 92 

When Vote is Challenged, Judge Shall Proceed How 93 

Reject Vote, when 94 

Further Duty of Judge 95 

Vote to be Rejected 96 

Not Entitled to Privileges of Elector 97 

Duty of Clerks 98 

Judge shall Challenge 99 

Duty in regard to Ballot-Boxes 100 

Candidates in Room 101 

Poll-Books to be Signed .' 102 

Boxes Opened and Votes Coxmted 103 

Vote Entered 104 

Form of Poll-Books 105 

Books and Ballots sent to County Clerk 106 

Chapter VII. — Registration of Voters. 

How Ascertained 107 

Poll-Books 108 

Officer of Registration 109 

Registration 110 

Notice Ill 

Books ; Opened and Closed 112 

Form of 113 

Apphcation 114 

Who Not to Vote 115 

Certificate 116 

Clerk to Administer Oaths 117 

Removal 118 

Copies of Poll-Books 119 

Duty of Judges 120 

Penalty 121 

Falsely Impersonating Another 122 

^. Statutes Repealed 123 



160 INDEX. 

Chaptze \1IL — Cpjmes ArrEcrnsG PrBLic Trusts. s^ion. 

Bribery of Officer 124 

Offering or Attempring to Bribe 125 

Briber.', for Elecrion to Office 126 

Bribery of Voters 127 

Grant or Deputation of Office 128 

Persons Convicted of Offenses. Disqualified 129 

Auempting Unlawfully to Influence Votes 130 

Voting More Than Once 131 

Voting witiiout being Qualified 132 

Receiving Illegal Votes., etc 133 

Counterfeit PoU-Books 134 

Fraudulently Canvassing Election 135 

Granting Certificates ; Fraudulent Elections 136 

Inscribing Name of Person Not Voting 137 

Subscribing Counterieit Election Returns 138 

Officer Accepting Bribe 139 

ChaPTEE IX. C-OilMISSIGXEB OF ElECTIOXS. 

Comrnissioner of Elections in Cities of over 30, OX) 140 

Supervisors of Elections 141 

Registration of Voters 142 

Boundaries of Wards and Precincts 143 

Change in Ward Boundaries ". 144 

Separate Books 145 

Copy of Registration Book 146 

Cliecking Vote 147 

Certified Statement of Vote 14S 

Printed Instructions 149 

Deputies and Clerks 150 

Duty of Police Officers 151 

Judges and Clerks of Election 152 

Poll-Books Opened and Closed 153 

Penalty Violating Act _ 154 

Chafteb X. — Cinzs of Fiest Ci-^.55. 

1. Government by ^layor and Council. 

Elections Annually 155 

Polls Kept Open 156 

Right to Vote 157 

Election Precincts ; Officers 153 

Election and Appointment of Officers 159 

Qualification ; Vacancies 160 

Canvass of Election 161 

Term of Office 162 

Who EUgible 163 

2. Government by Board of Commissioners. 

Vote at Large 1*34 

When Held 164§ 

Hours of Voting 165 



INDEX. 161 

Section. 

Who Qualified to Vote 166 

Election Precincts ; Judges and Clerks • 16^ 

Officers of Second-Class Cities 168 

Nominations for Office • • 169 

Officers to be Elected 170 

Board of Canvassers ; Canvass of Votes 171 

Chapter XI. — Cities of Second Class. 

1. Government by Mayor and Council. 

Officers Elected and Appointed 172 

Tie Vote 173 

Elections • • 174 

Councilmen ; Number 175 

Qualification of Officers 176 

Elections, Where Held ; Judges 177 

Precincts 178 

Board of Canvassers 179 

2. Government bj' Board of Commissioners. 

Election 180 

Time of Holding 181 

Hours of Voting 182 

Women May Vote 183 

Election of Mayor and Commissioners 184 

Nominations for Offices ; Primary 185 

Laws Applicable 186 

FiUng Statement ; Particular Commissionership 187 

Primary Ballot to Indicate Names, etc 188 

Chapter XII. — Cities of Third Class. 

Election of Officers ; Vacancies ."^ 189 

Judges and Clerks of Election 190 

Board of Canvassers 191 

Chapter XIII. — Township Elections. 

TowTiship Officers 192 

Officers Elected 193 

Justices ; Inehgible 194 

Vacancy 195 

How Conducted 196 

Judges of 197 

Canvass of Votes 198 

Certificates 199 

Tie Vote 200 

Vacancies 201 

Posted 202 

Penalty 203, 204, 205 

Refusal to serve 206 

Refusal to Dehver 207 

Certain Cities not Included 208 

—11 



162 IXDEX. 

Chapter XIV. — School Et^ctioxs. Section 

Board of Education in Certain Cities 209 

Term of Office 210 

Vacancies 211 

Board of Education in Cities Governed by Commissioners 212 

Annual School ^Meeting 213 

Annual ^Meeting ; Special ^Meeting -, 214 

Called Meeting 215 

Xotice of Meeting 216 

Qualified Electors 217 

Meeting 218 

Cliallenged 219 

Powers of District ^Meeting * 220 

School Term 221 

Chapter XV. — CorxTT-SEAT Electioxs. 

Election may be Contested 222 

Mandamus : 223, 224 

Parties ; Style of Action 225 

Injunction 226 

Pleadings and Practice 227 

-; Vahdity of Election 228 

;; -Illegal Vote, How Stated 229 

Trial ; Findings ; Judgment 230 

Costs 231 

Chapter XVI. — Cax^a'ass of the Votes. 

' Canvass Votes 232 

Highest Xumber of Votes Elect . -. . '. . 233 

Tie Vote 234 

Abstracts of Votes .235 

Certificate 236 

_ Deputy Discharge Duties 237 

State Canvassers 238 

Duty of Secretary of State 239 

If no Abstract be Received 240 

State Canvassers : :• t .-. . 241 

Tie Vote ...;;. 242 

Statement Recorded ; Certificate .- . .- 243 

List of Members Elected ..'...... 244 

Two Houses may Determine Election 245 

Electors 246 

• Meeting 247 

Compensation 248 

Chapter XVII. — Coxtested Electioxs. 

o "Contest of Election 249 

,30. Day for Hearing Contest 250 

- : ^.Testimony . 251 

r.. ^:Rules 252 



INDEX. 163 

(Section. 

Of Senator or Representative 253 

Statement 254 

Subpoenas ; Depositions 255 

How Taken 256 

Disposition of , etc 257 

Commissions to Take 258 

Causes for Contest 259 

Insufficient Cause 260 

Court 261 

Duty of County Clerk 262 

Statement and Bond 263 

Names to be Stated 264 

Stay 265 

Day for Trial 266 

Servdce of Notice 267 

Testimony 268 

Subpoenas, etc 269 

Proceedings. 270 

Process ; Service 271 

Place of Trial 272 

Attendance of Officer 273 

Required to Answer 274 

Judgment 275 

Compensation , . . . 276 

Liability for Costs 277 

Execution ; Effect of Transcript 278 

Order of Court, etc • 279 

Contested Elections 280 

Contest for Electors 281 

Chapter XVHI. — Miscellaneous. 

Vacancy, How Filled 282 

Commencement of Term 283 

Of Unexpired Term 284 

Vacancy in Office of Senator or Representative 285 

Commencement of Term 286 

Elections to Fill Vacancies ; 287 

Free from Arrest 288 

Where not to be Held 289 

Neglect of Duty ; Corrupt Conduct, etc 290 

Perjury 291 

Receiving Illegal Vote 292 

Falsely Personating 293 

Prosecutions 294^ 

Fines 295 

Fees of County Clerk 296 

Compensation 297 

Special Messenger 298 

Justice of Peace — Contested Election ._• ^,,^11,,.^ 299 



164 INDEX. 

Section. 

Ballots Xot Counted 300 

Misdemeanor 301 

Organization to File Account . , 302 

Penalty 303 

Chapter XIX. — Corrupt Practices. 

Promises, Penalty 304 

Unlawful Acts 305 

Liquors or Cigars 306 

Liquors 307 

.-Vlso Unlawful 308 

Committee ^Members ; Penalty 309 

Chapter XX. — Voters' Choice for L'xited States Senator Expressed 

AT PRIM^ART .AND GENERAL ELECTIONS. 

United States Senator — Choice 310 

Party Xomination : Secretary- of State to Certify 311 

Chapter XXI. — Voters in Military Service and Soldiers' Home. 

Ele<?tors may Vote, etc 312 

PoU-Books and TaUy-Sheets 313 

Duplicate Copies 314 

Elections by Regiments 315 

Place of Holding Election 316 

Pro^'isions of Article 2 317 

Ballot ; Duty of Judges and Clerks 318 

Pro^^sions of Article 2, etc 319 

Poll-Books and Tally-Sheets .320 

Duty of Secretary' of State 321 

Duty of Commissioners 322 

Who Disqualified 323 

State Soldiers' Home 324 

PoU-Books. 325 

Transmittal 326 

Duty of County Clerks 327 

Election Officers 328 

Manner of Voting 329 

Laws Apphcable 330 

Returns 331 

Record Votes , 332 

Canvass 333 

Voter 334 

Booths, etc 335 

Chapter XXII. — Voting When Absent From Vottn-g Precincts. 

Voting — Absent from Home 336 

Affida\dt .337 

Votes to County Clerk 338 

Counted 339 

Ballot Kept 340 



INDEX. 165 

SectiG7i 

False Swearing 341 

Affidavits 342 

Chapter XXIII. — Voting Machixes. 

May be Used 343 

Efficiency 344 

Rules for Use 345 

Duties of Judges 346 

Penalty 347 

Laws 348 

Chapter XXIV. — Female Suffrage. 

Women Ma\^ Vote 349 

For Free Public Librars- 350 

Voters 351 

The Same 352 

Resolution Relating to Equal Suffrage . 



r.OV 8 1911 



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A Charles M. Sheldon Year Book Jap. Silk Paper, 1 .00 

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